Hemingway’s Realistic Mayfly Wings
Hemingway’s Realistic Mayfly Wings are a very realistic imitation of real mayfly wings in their dun (subimago) stage when their wings are lightly colored. These wings are extra easy to work with – they are preshaped and precut, all ready to use! Simply take them off the backing sheet and tie them on. No cutting or shaping is required. The transparency and the details on these wings mimic the real wing of a mayfly so well that fooling a fish is going to be a breeze. Premium quality made to withstand the elements – they are waterproof and UV resistant, so no additional prep work is needed. They are extra durable and can survive many fish, but are also made of a very flexible material so they are easy to bend and manipulate when tying. The softness and flexibility of the material make them easily gulped by the fish. These wings are best complemented with Hemingway’s Mayfly Tube Bodies – you get a perfect realistic-looking fly in a few easy steps. See our instructional slideshow below on how to easily tie a realistic mayfly dun using these amazing products.
Flies made with these wings are meant to be used and used again. Many realistic flies are sitting at home and collecting dust. Now, it is time to get those realistic flies where they belong – on the water! Use them, lose them, no big deal, as they are affordable and easy to make. With Hemingway’s Realistic Mayfly Wings you can make those wonderful realistic flies that fish just love to bite!
Hemingway’s Realistic Mayfly Wings come in six colors: Dark, Tan, Gray, Light Gray, Light Yellow & Yellow, and the following sizes:
- Extra Small (56 pcs, 16-18 hook size)
- Small (36 pcs, 14-16 hook size)
- Medium (25 pcs, 12-14 hook size)
- Large (16 pcs, 10-12 hook size)
- Extra Large (12 pcs, 8-10 hook size)
Please note that due to many different types and models of hooks, these hook size recommendations are just rough estimates.
Tip: Due to their size, when peeling off Small and Extra Small wings, if you encounter any difficulty, use an Exacto knife along the edges of wing tabs to separate the tabs first and then peel off the wings from the sheet.
Hemingway’s mayfly wings also come as a 2-pair set – including both the forewings and hindwings. In addition, for tying an ephemera danica mayfly dun, see our premium mayfly set including mayfly wings and super-realistic bodies. For these and other wings we offer, go here.
Mayfly
Order: Ephemeroptera
Mayflies (also known as shadflies) belong to aquatic insects. They are primitive species, the oldest of winged insects, and can be dated back to the prehistoric ages. Mayflies go through incomplete metamorphosis, going from egg to nymph to adult, and lacking an intermediate pupal stage. Mayflies are also unique as being the only insect to have two winged adult life stages – the sexually immature – subimago and the reproductive, mature – imago.
Mayfly Dun Stage
When the exoskeleton of a mayfly nymph breaks open the adult mayfly gets released and emerges into an adult – a dun (subimago) with dull-colored wings and breathes air. They float on the water surface and wait for their wings to fill with fluid and their veins to harden (as opposed to the common presumption that they are drying their wings). During this time they are vulnerable and easily become prey to the hungry fish. Dun seeks shelter in the vegetation on the river banks. Mayfly duns live short lives before they transform again, most species only a couple of hours, but this can range anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of days. They are not such great fliers.
Mayfly dun has usually three long tails (some have two). Their forewings are large, lightly colored, and transparent, covered with veins and standing upright (similar to those of a butterfly). Some species have hindwings, however, these are small in size and have no function (they are vestigial). Their bodies are long and tapered with long, slim legs. Their size ranges from #4 to #24, with the most common size between #12 and #18.
The adult mayfly dun is sexually immature (unique in nature) and goes through another molt – from dun to a spinner (imago) – a mature mayfly ready to reproduce.
Fishing Mayfly Dun Patterns
The majority of mayfly species molt in the spring and early summer, while others do it at different times of the year. You could have sporadic hatches of certain species even in the late fall and early spring. These sporadic times could be even more interesting and productive for trout (and for a fisherman). During early spring and the fall, mayflies hatch in the warm hours of the day – usually midday. In the summertime, this event moves more towards the morning and late afternoon or early evenings. Usually, the warmer the weather, the shorter the hatch is – an hour or two. With cooler weather, this can last a couple of hours. As mayfly duns float on the surface like little sailboats, this behavior dictates the method of presentation of the fly that is imitating it. When presenting a dun imitation to the trout, it has to be drag-free and from upstream, not giving a fish much opportunity to see the line or leader. This can be done by cross-current reach cast. This way your fly will drift towards the trout before the line and the leader arrive.
To learn more about the mayfly life cycle and fly fishing techniques for different mayfly stages go here.
Tying Instructions
This instructional slideshow illustrates how to easily tie mayfly dun using Hemingway’s Realistic Mayfly Wings, also featured in detail here, or see our Videos page for more interesting ideas and video fly tutorials and recipes.
PAUL H (verified owner) –
OK tied some flies yesterday using the extended bodies and these wings, the problem is separating the wings from the sheet, takes longer than tying the actual fly frustrating, broke one of the tabs off, have to cut around tabs with hobby knife would be better if cut out and placed on backing sheet like other makes do. Also in my opinion the wing sizes do not match the body sizes, medium or large wing would go better with small extended body, I ended up cutting bodies to match wing size. I really like the bodies but hate the wings.
Boris (verified owner) –
Hi Paul,
Thank you very much for taking the time to review our products. Your input is vitally important to us and it helps us improve our product selection.
We are very sorry to hear that you have had problems with mayfly wings. When peeling off smaller-sized wings it is possible to experience some difficulty, simply due to their delicate size. This is when we recommend using an exacto knife along the edges of wing tabs to separate the tabs first and then peel off the wings from the sheet. However, this should not be a troublesome task. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. We really appreciate your feedback and will certainly look into this and forward your comments to the manufacturer.
Please send us an email (the contact address is: contact@frostyfly.com) with details of the wings you are not satisfied with so we can process a refund for you. We do our best to provide top quality products and really appreciate the feedback we get. Thanks again and we hope to see you shopping with us soon.
Best regards,
Boris
Pjdvmi86@comcast.net (verified owner) –
I bought these and have used them on several flies. I found them to be easy to work with. My suggestion would be to taper the tabs to a point versus a square point. Sometimes it’s more difficult to wrap the tabs. Once you get them tied in, they are awesome. They make your flies look so realistic and I cannot wait to use them.
Boris (verified owner) –
Terry, thank you for your comment. We are really sorry to hear that you had trouble separating mayfly wings from the backing. When it comes to small and extra small sizes, it could be harder to take them off the sheet due to their size. When using exacto knife it should not be a problem. If you had trouble with that as well, it could be due to a faulty sample. We stand behind products we sell and would like to send you a replacement, or your money back. We will contact you via email.
Fish Whistle (verified owner) –
Great product, wings are very durable. As far as some comments about being hard to separate from the sheet. After dzns of sheets has been very minor issue. Some are more difficult by a very small measure. The tabs provided to lash down with I find less and less important as I super glue and cross wrap my thread to apply to hook. Helps provide a tighter profile by requiring less hook shank to attach. Perfect match with the frostyfly extended mayfly bodies. Great product, worth the investment.
David Cowlard –
Have used these to ty flies for fishing lough Corrib Ireland. Look great but wings tear of every time you hook a trout. Sorry won’t be buying anymore. David
Boris (verified owner) –
Hello David,
Thank you for taking the time to write your review on our website in regards to the Hemingway’s Mayfly Wings you have purchased. We are very sorry to hear that they didn’t preform well, we understand that it was very upsetting and would like to compensate you. We are not sure why the wings were tearing off, it could be a fault in production of that batch. Please email us your order number and if you would like a replacement to be sent to you of those wings, some other products, or if you would like a refund. Our email is: contact@frostyfly.com
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.
Best regards
Kenneth Held (verified owner) –
If you’re looking for a product to make your flies more realistic here it is. When just ok isn’t good enough for that fish with a PHD and you need to present the best possible picture to a fish. These wings will change the whole profile of your fly and sucker the big boys to eat your fly.
David Glenn Renirie (verified owner) –
They are very easy to use and they make a nice looking fly with all three colors that I purchased.
I will buy them again once I use what I have left.
Rick Gunter (verified owner) –
Great product, adds realism to the flies that I am tying. Will order more as soon as I have these all tied.
David Calarco (verified owner) –
These wings are very realistic. Had no problem tying them onto extended bodies which I also purchased. My only concern is that these wings will helicopter my fly and twist the tippet into a mess. I’ll find out, especially because they are Green Drakes. One more thing, the extra large wings should be a little larger to be proportionate to the GD extended body. Nice products thought.
Dani Savoie –
How many wings can you get out of these sheets?. Thanks for responding
Boris (verified owner) –
Thanks for your interest, Dani!
Extra Small (56 pcs, 16-18 hook size)
Small (36 pcs, 14-16 hook size)
Medium (25 pcs, 12-14 hook size)
Large (16 pcs, 10-12 hook size)
Extra Large (12 pcs, 8-10 hook size)
Richard E Bustamente (verified owner) –
I’ve tied up a couple of dozen of these in different colors, BWO’s PMD’s etc they look great and fish well. i use a little super glue to make sure the wing and the extended body are stable on the fly, really great looking flies.