Wings are often formed by blending colors of bucktail together and through the use of additional hackle feathers. This blending technique is also important when constructing collars that join into a wing.

A school of painting pictures called impressionism is based on the use of pure color rather than mixed color to produce an image that has an inner vibrancy that mixed (dyed) color cannot effect in the eye. Impressionism is not creating a vague idea that can be interpreted in various ways; rather, it is a way of using color in painting (or anything else) that allows two or more colors to form other colors in the viewer's perception while retaining their original hue.

Impressionism has real value in fly tying. Blending various hues of bucktail together results in a fly that more closely resembles the natural in its environment and also interacts with the changes of natural light. Select the appropriate amount of bucktail for the color you desire; this can be closely controlled by counting out the actual number of hairs you want to blend together to get the color effects you want to achieve. Over time this will become second nature and is not as tedious as you may imagine. The results will be worth the effort.

Select long, thin-stemmed saddle hackles that undulate in the current for your flatwings. These feathers are tied curved-side down over a feather with a stiff stem (tied curved side up) that acts as a support and helps prevent the flies from fouling.

If you have five yellow and five blue bucktail hairs, you will have not only yellow and blue and perceived green, but all three colors will be present to the eye. Add space and water and the three colors will move and have a vibrancy that any of them alone cannot generate visually. Add another color, such as five red hairs, and you will have the same three colors plus red, orange, and violet, as well as all the colors in between, and all of them will shift and change and wink on and off from every angle and viewpoint. If you use a dyed color, you effectively shut off this energetic display just as surely as shutting off a light with a switch.

Anglers often ask whether flatwings work for other species of fish and the answer is yes. Innovative fly tiers have caught many different types of fish on them, from tarpon to trout. It is a small wonder that in some circles they've been popular for 500 years.

Ken Abrames's website, www.stripermoon.com, is a forum for introducing more fly fishermen to his traditional saltwater techniques. The site features articles, bulletin boards, baitfish slides, and information on his free evening of fishing every Tuesday night from May until December. Contact Ken directly at ken@stripermoon.com.