Secretiveness, typical to some extent of many professional craftsmen, was contagious among flytiers. Christian caught it from Gordon: when his grandson asked to be shown how to tie flies, Christian said "Find out the way I did". He untied and figured out in reverse how Gordon had tied his flies, just as Walt Dette, Harry Darbee and the later generations of Catskill flytiers did in order to learn the professional secrets of the old masters". - Catskill Rivers by Austin M. Francis
.jpg)
Wrapped quill bodies are an "almost" forgotten flytying material. It was only a few generations ago that the best of the tiers such as Theodore Gordon and Art Flick commonly used this material to create realistic and beautiful trout flies. But quill bodies fell out of fashion and were replaced with a mountain of dubbing material which works really well but doesn't look as good.
So, I've made a deal with myself to use more quill bodies. After over 50 years of flyfishing and thousands of trout I don't need the big numbers and can afford to experiment a bit.
If you've been tying for a few years you have a good supply of quills on those worked over hackle capes. Strip off the fibers, soak the quills for a a few minutes. The next thing to do would be to dye some quills orange as in Partridge and Orange!!
The Rivers
As I write the Swift is flowing at 122 cfs which is too high for this time of years. Brookies need reduced flows to spawn successfully. Hopefully that flow is temporary.
The Millers is at 152 which is low but still fishable as is the EB although we need the rain.
Note: If you are flying down a pre dawn highway praying to be the FIRST at your favorite honey hole just remember this: someone else is probably doing the same thing. So relax and have a plan 2 and a plan 3. Stress and flyfishing should not mix!!
Ken
.jpg){kind=link}
6 comments:
I don't think that flow is going to stop the brookies. In Maine the rivers are over 1500 CFS and the brookies still manage.
Different rivers, different flows. I've since brookies spawning in shallow riffles (where they should be) on the Swift one year and then we get high water (high for the Swift) and they abandon the same site the next year. The Swift is a very small river and flushes of water from Quabbin screw things up.
Ken
Ken,
I have been using Polish quills which seem to be sold out in all national suppliers. Although I have a few of each remaining colors still to use, I would love to replenish my supply. I love the look of a quill body covered with UV! Perhaps either you or one of your readers know of a source for Polish quills.
Thank you, Bruce from Merrimack Valley
Bruce,
I bought some stripped quills (not Polish) from Fly Shack that were the perfect shade of olive and were the perfect size for 16's and 18's.
Ken
AK Best introduced many of us to quills in his excellent books. I’ve always found them elegant and short lived, much like their mayflies themselves.
Anonymous,
AK Best!!! Good point.
Ken
Post a Comment