These are old images but will do to demo what I call flat wings.
I use both dyed mallard and or genuine bronze flank for the top or wing of the fly. Trick is to find a well balanced feather then strip the lower barbs from the quill up to where you want the wing to start. To keep the quill from shifting or turning on the top of the body you can pinch the quill with a tool to flatten it a bit. Don't smash it or you'll weaken the feather and then lose the wing when in use.
Here's another with dyed mallard.
I like the color of that material wet and use more of it than the bronze stuff anymore. Some things about the single feather wing that are cool are: they don't come loose, I've never lost one - they make a fly travel through the water nicely and when wet you can't tell if they are single feather or a pair of slips.
Another veiled over with a single feather, gotta admit it's hard to tell isn't it?
Just so happens I have a picture of one of those Santiam Spectrum flies after a pretty good day.
That doesn't mean that every fly tied with a flat wing will catch a bunch of big toothy trout and char but they will work pretty well. The red one up the page is another good color here for fall char & trout. The Santiam seems to work anytime.
I use both dyed mallard and or genuine bronze flank for the top or wing of the fly. Trick is to find a well balanced feather then strip the lower barbs from the quill up to where you want the wing to start. To keep the quill from shifting or turning on the top of the body you can pinch the quill with a tool to flatten it a bit. Don't smash it or you'll weaken the feather and then lose the wing when in use.
Here's another with dyed mallard.
I like the color of that material wet and use more of it than the bronze stuff anymore. Some things about the single feather wing that are cool are: they don't come loose, I've never lost one - they make a fly travel through the water nicely and when wet you can't tell if they are single feather or a pair of slips.
Another veiled over with a single feather, gotta admit it's hard to tell isn't it?
Just so happens I have a picture of one of those Santiam Spectrum flies after a pretty good day.
That doesn't mean that every fly tied with a flat wing will catch a bunch of big toothy trout and char but they will work pretty well. The red one up the page is another good color here for fall char & trout. The Santiam seems to work anytime.
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