Goose and Turkey Quills

[Philly 0]

I had a bunch of stripped goose and turkey quills lying around so I used some of them for a fly swap. The rest I turned into these. I liked the way they turned out so when I was browsing the local craft store I came across a bag of goose feathers. 25 for $4.95. Much nicer and larger quills than I had left. The top row and the last two were made from those.

[smallieFanatic 0]

Very creative, those are really neat looking :bugeyes:

[Fred H. 0]

I agree . Very creative. With all the new synthetics out there , we forget just how much can be done with the materials that have been around for ever.

Fred

[utyer 0]

Nice return to an old classic popper. As Fred said this is pretty much a forgotten way to do poppers. I remember the frist ones I ever saw were my dads, and he simply lashed them to the top of the hook, and varnished them. Then he would wind a hackle at the back, and sometimes even strap on a few other feathers along the back. Cut some of the heads at an angle, before you make the next ones, and you can make a nice diving popper.

[sandflyx 0]

Hey philly use them on the Delaware above Trenton for tiger trout and schoolie stripers, should work..down and across "V" wake should get some..

[smalltownfisherman 0]

I am very impressed with those poppers(How do you make those?)! :headbang:

 

[Philly 0]

As Utyer said a different take on an old popper. I tied a few using quills about 12 years ago and then forgot about them with all the things you can do with foam. I resurrected them for a panfish swap and decided to run with them after I finished those. The main difference between between these and the "classic" quill popper is the hook goes through the quill. I also stuff pieces of foam into the quill after I mount it on the hook. I'll do a couple diving ones in the next batch.

I tie in the tail and wrap the hackle. The build up of the thread and tail material makes a tight fit for the butt end of the quill. I'll put a drop of the thick Z-A-G and then slide the quill on. Let it set up, then start stuffing pieces of foam into the quill. Once that's done I add color with permanent markers. Coat the quill with a white glue. Once it dries tacky, I apply transfer foil. Do a bit more with the markers. Add eyes, then use a bit of softex to seal it. Last, I do two coats of a clear jig head finish.

 

These are two of the first ones I tied many years ago. I retired them after they caught close to 50 small snapper blues one afternoon. They're suprisingly tough. I used mylar tubing and 5 minute epoxy on the original ties.

[smalltownfisherman 0]

WOW!(too bad I don't have the materials to make those :crying: )Very awesome though. :headbang:

[ron P. 0]

I had a bunch of stripped goose and turkey quills lying around so I used some of them for a fly swap. The rest I turned into these. I liked the way they turned out so when I was browsing the local craft store I came across a bag of goose feathers. 25 for $4.95. Much nicer and larger quills than I had left. The top row and the last two were made from those.

.

 

 

Hi, Philly --

 

I bet if you wrapped some lead on those hooks first you would have yourself a killer shad fly, too.

 

-- ron P.

 

 

.

 

[Philly 0]

Ron:

Interesting idea to use as a shad fly. If I could get to the upper Delaware in late May or early June, I could use them as they are now to catch the shad on top.

Actually, they're mainly for the Wissahickon. I'm doing a smaller size one now that will be more sunfish size.