When I was out at Laura's she let me grab an old copy of Fly Tyer magazine from Summer 2001 that Jim had in fly tying den. I had looked through it a few weeks back and after tying up that popper the other night I just went and gave it a shot off the cuff, not following the recipe in the magazine. It's tied on a Partridge Predator 4/0 hook, which I know is a bigger hook than is intended for the fly.
Ken Abrames was the first to design the flatwing fly. Several other well-known tyers, Bill Peabody, Ray Bondorew, and a bunch of Rhode Island guys, aka how the Rhody Flatwing got named, went on to help make the pattern popular. Joe Cordiero, who was a true mentee of Abrames, has continued the
tradition with his son Greg. Interestingly enough, I have passed their booth at The Fly Fishing Show but have never stopped in for some unknown reason. Last year, below, I came close but didn't step up and in. I think part of it was because of the prices those flatwing saddles command. The flatwing is known for it's ease in tying, the relative sparseness of the tie, and a fly that fishes way bigger than it's size due to the action of the multiple hackles.
I'm looking forward to fishing this, and then reading the article, before sitting down and trying to tie it like Abrames meant them to be tied. I'll have to try and dig out some faux jungle cock to use for the eyes as the eyes I glued on just don't look right. One this I know about the the one I tied (top), Steve Farrar always told me, "Fish don't have beaks", so that's something I'll have to work on.
I have also seen in person and on the Master's of The Fly show Staten Island and Bayshore Flyrodder's member Ken Ekelund tie up some beautiful flutings. You can see his episode below,