[John Forish]

I'm a new member that has been hanging back, reading the forums and learning an amazing amount of new tricks. The one trick I saw was the use of a Wing Burner. Do these actually work? It seems a lot easier than using quill slips, and definately looks more realistic. It seems that using quill must be a thing of the past as I can't seem to get an good quills at either of our local fly shops. Does anyone use these Burner type of wings?

Thanks
John

[shorthaul]

Hi John

the wing burners worked great but the flies that we tied were probably the inspiration for the furled leader---we were burning dun colored turkey feathers which are pretty stiff, when put on the fly, if they were at the slightest angle, they would twist your leader. simply,if you false cast a lot then your leader twists more. The ones that had the biggest errors would make a sound as they went by---the odor of the burning feathers was not for the faint of heart, only rivalled by the idea that lighting muddler heads would burn the deer hair evenly when lit. Ater a short week of burned winged flies we retired the wing burners and went back to clump mounted upright calftail parachutes.

[John Forish]

Thanks
The smell thing I kind of figured on, but causing the fly to spin and twist the leader I didn't. Makes sense. If I come across some I can borrow to try, I might, but I think I'll stick with hair.
Thanks again.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi John,

Back in the early 50's all you could buy were winged flies. The wings on a Royal Coachman only lasted a short time and they would be shredded. I learned early on that the old beat up flies worked better for me than a new fly with whole wings. A hair wing fly is much more durable and easier to tye.

Frank

[shorthaul]

An alternative to burned wings

If you can find dun colored hen necks you can stip the barbules off half of the feather and trim a wing shape with your scizzors---pair them up and tie them in---they are soft and have a small quill and they lay down some when casting---they take me a long time to tie but i can honestly say that if a trout came up---it never got a refusal on that fly.

I've used up most of the neck i had and if anyone has a source for dun hen necks i'd appreciate a heads up

[John Forish]

I will keep my eyes open for a dun cape, but in the mean time, what is the best type of hair to use. White Calf?

[Joni]

I use the wing burners quite often. I guess cause I attach all flies with a loop I don't notice the spinning thing.
Wing burners are awesome for Spinners, cripples, etc. Splay the wings out and out a small piece of foam for an indicator on top. The shadow it cast underwater is awesome.
Easy as heck to use.

[sandfly]

Originally Posted by John Forish

I will keep my eyes open for a dun cape, but in the mean time, what is the best type of hair to use. White Calf?

Calf Body---its straight and looks better than calf tail...

[Joni]

And don't limit yourself to just white. White is very hard to see on sunny days with big white clouds. Try Orange and Black maybe even yellow.

[John Forish]

Man, so much information. Thanks everybody. Gotta keep it short, lots of flies to tie.
Thanks
John