[Red Owl]

Some dry flies use matching sections of duck quill (like a Royal Coachman). I haven't had much luck, the sections seem to fall apart before I can tie them on the hook. I'm wondering how well these flies hold up after catching a fish
In any event, do you just have to be super delicate with this material? Any tips on tying on these type wings.

[fyshstykr]

Originally Posted by Red Owl

Some dry flies use matching sections of duck quill (like a Royal Coachman). I haven't had much luck, the sections seem to fall apart before I can tie them on the hook. I'm wondering how well these flies hold up after catching a fish
In any event, do you just have to be super delicate with this material? Any tips on tying on these type wings.

Duck Quill is actually a very durable material, and seems to look better after a few fish.
And honestly gives me fits at the bench, I still fight it too much.

[WANTONJ]

Hi Red Owl,I have a jig made from alum that splits the wing quills into dry fly wings and holds them in place,then you apply thin head cement to the wing base,then cut them off with a scissors,the part that splits them looks like a course metal comb,if you use one right and one left quill you can make two dozen wings in a couple of minuets,the bases are glued and they will not come apart,the part that is glued ends up under your thread,this thing works great.I don't remember the name ,I will try and find it for you.

have a good and safe day.

Wayne Valley Fire Service,Valley Springs Calif.

[Red Owl]

Well that sounds like it would work. I could probably use a razor or exacto knife to split matching quills. then apply cement along the base of the quill. I could then precisely measure the hook gap and cut matching wings of equal width. I tie in place and then cut off the excess which includes the cemented base. Is that what you are saying? Thanks for the help.
Also, in applying the glue, do you go up a little on the feather, usually there is plenty of material.

[WANTONJ]

Red Owl that is correct. you can obtain the wing width by using a tooth pick,as you can see the wide side of the quill can be 1.5 to 2 inches wide,you cement it at the base of the quill,all you want is that the wings stay together until you try them to the hook,after they are tried you cut off the excess short,I would suggest after you try them on use a half hitch or a whip finish knot and some cement before cutting them off short.

have a good and safe day.

Wayne Valley Fire Service,Valley Springs Calif.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi to all,

Back when I was a teenager I use the Quill Wing Coachman fly a lot. I found even if you didn't catch a fish the quill wing would split and after a while the wings were fragmented. I wasn't much of a caster then and that may have had a lot to do with the fly wing fragmenting. The fly seemed to work better fragmented and I eventually went to a Hair Wing Coachman. I found that the hair wing caught just as many fish. If it was me I wouldn't bother with the quill wing at all. Just tye the Royal Wulff and be done with it.

The Royal Wulff is a great indicator fly in size 10.

Frank

Kaufmann Royal Wulff