On 1 Dec, 08:10, rw wrote:

I don't think it's imitating a natural feature so much as drawing the
trout's attention in a fairly subtle way. Some insects have iridescent
wingcases, but I can't say I've ever seen a natural with one. Maybe I'm
not looking closely enough.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

None of the nymphs I have seen had iridescent wing cases, but
underwater, and with bubbles etc, they do often appear to be
iridescent!
Although the flashabou ( or whatever), does not appear to imitate a
natural feature, perhaps it does, and we are merely not aware of it?

I found that ordinary polythene stretched and tied in over the wing
case seemed to improve hook-ups. Unfortunately, it is also not very
robust. Quite a few people I know put a drop of epoxy on wing cases.
It works OK, and is robust,

On the other hand, it is often quite impossible to tell whether
anything actually improves hook-ups. For the most part I prefer very
robust fur nymphs, and they catch plenty of fish, so the rest is just
experimentation.

As for "drawing the trout´s attention", that is doubtless the case
with a lot of flies, including bead heads.

TL
MC