Day 102 - Creating Wonder Woman

As a heads up, I've been toying with the idea of moving to a different blogging service. While I like the use of blogger.com, I think the use of Word Press may offer me some better opportunities in the future. Currently I'm posting on both sites, but I think by the end of the year I will be using strictly Word Press. If you'd like, you can visit the new site at: http://www.365flyfish.wordpress.com/

Ever since I read that article in Fly Tyer magazine about creating Super Hero flies, I've been preoccupied with that idea. My wife is a big fan of Wonder Woman, and I've been trying to think how I would create a Wonder Woman inspired fly pattern.

I guess I should answer whether I want this fly pattern to be a wet fly, dry fly, or a terrestial. Now Fly Tyer magazine only listed nymphs in their article, but I don't want that to bias my decision making. I am partial to nymph fishing however so that may play a factor. But what about the character herself. Would Diana Prince (aka Wonder Woman) be a nymph? There's some humor in that question and I beg your forgiveness for phrasing the question in that matter. Would Wonder Woman be better represented as a dry fly, a nymph, or a terrestial. I can see the merit in all three styles, but I think I'm going to have to say a wet fly as I like the idea of Wonder Woman being active, and the way you fish a wet fly pattern is a little more active than a dry fly pattern.

OK, the Wonder Woman pattern is going to be a wet fly pattern. Let's break this down even farther. Should I stay with a traditional wet fly or do I move to a nymph pattern. In my head, I see the merits of staying with a wet fly pattern because of the movement that it will create in the water. However, there is still something to be said that the Wonder Woman should be a nymph (there I go again, please forgive my insolence).

Color is the next thing to choose. I've posted a picture of Wonder Woman for a little inspiration on the subject.


It looks like our heroine is decked out in red, gold, blue, and white. Of course we can't forget her signature jet black hair. Also, how are we going to incorporate her golden lasso, boomerang tiara, and bullet bouncing bracelts? Hmmm... let's get the thought machine going, shall we?

Maybe we should discuss what makes up a wet fly? That way we can start to look at what materials should go where. A traditional wet fly pattern typically includes: a tag (a couple wraps at the end of the hook with some sort of material), a tail, a rib (usually wire that is wrapped over the body), the main body itself, a hackle (sometimes called a beard), and a wing. There are some other variations that include cheeks, butts, and married wings (feathers from differnt birds carefully aligned together).

Looking at the picture, I can see that her costume is blue on the bottom. What if I were to give the pattern a blue tail. I could either use some dyed feathers in Kingfisher blue, or use some Peacock Swords. Both sound like good ideas, but I plan on fishing this pattern, and I love the allure of peacock. Still, I've never used dyed Kingfisher blue feathers. Choices. I just went to my tying chest and pulled out the hackle and peacock. I think I really like the looks fo the Kingfisher blue. That's locked in.

I've been thinking about the golden lasso and how to incorporate that into the pattern. When you look at the picture above you can see the lasso tied in at her hip. The geography of the tag is at the rear of the hook below the tail. It seems to me that the tag would be a great place to incorporate the golden lasso. Therefore, lets go ahead and tie the tag with flat gold tinsel.

So far, so good. On to the body. Looking at the picture, it is clear that her body is in red. So it would be an obvious choice to use some red floss. As for the rib, lets continue to use the gold tinsel as Wonder Woman has the Golden Bra and Belt thing going on there. I'm sure there is a technical name for that, but it escapes me.

Now, the only things left in the traditional wet fly pattern are the wing and the hackle. Looking at Wonder Woman, she has that lovely jet black hair. It makes sense that the wing should be black. As for the hackle, why not use some yellow feather fibers to imitate her Golden Bracelets? Sounds good to me. I think I'll get to work on that pattern tomorrow and see how it goes. If it looks good, I'll post it. However, if it looks like garbage off to the Crap Jar and we shall never speak of this again (at least until the next time).

So here is what I figure the Wonder Woman recipe should be:

Wonder Woman
Hook: Traditional Wet Fly Hook; size 12-18
Tag: Flat Gold Tinsel
Tail: Kingfisher Blue Hackle Fibers
Rib: Flat Gold Tinsel
Body: Red Floss
Hackle/Throat: Yellow Hackle Fibers
Wing: Black