Playing Around With Married Quills

[Arkansas Mike 0]

I was playing around for the first time with married quill wings today

(I've been playing around with a lot of stuff for the first time lately...

possibly getting in over my head) , and came out with this. I was so focused

on the wings that I got my ribbing uneven. I used some dyed duck quill I had, but

some of it was pretty ragged. Does anyone know who carries dyed quill...or should

I use something other than duck? Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Guest]

A very nice fly Mike! :headbang: Your wing tips aren't aligned, but you can correct that by being a little more careful.

 

Hook & Hackle has both duck and goose quills. I use duck quills for small flies and goose for larger flies. Quality is always a problem with quills. You should buy as many as you can afford, because 50% of the quills will be junk or near junk. The good news is that they aren't expensive, $2 a package for duck and $1.80 for goose.

 

 

[Bruce Derington 0]

Mike, nice job on the wings guy. You don't see many married dry fly wings! If you fish em they won't look like that very long Married wings are fun to work with, you are starting to enter the dark side my friend. Not trying to steal your post but thought you might enjoy these

[Moscow 0]

Very nicely done, Mike! Does the fly have a name?

 

Tim

Moscow, Idaho

[Arkansas Mike 0]

Thanks again for the comments and encouragement, TroutBum. I've read that goose shoulder is used a lot for larger flies. As far as the wing tips being uneven, I noticed it after I'd tied them in and set them upright. I was so happy, I wasn't about to unwrap and try to fix them. :yahoo: From now on I'll be more careful and make sure they are even.

 

Bruce, I enjoyed every minute of working with married wings. Even the first pair I tried that kept splitting and sliding behind one another as I was tying them in. Salmon Flies like yours are exactly the reason I wanted to practice marrying quills. I only hope I can tie flies that beautiful one day. I'm going to attempt a Blue Charm as soon as the materials I ordered arrive. After that...hopefully a Red Rover. I made my first post over on the Classic forum yesterday...so, yes Sir...looks as if I've entered the dark side.

 

I appreciate that, Tim. The fly doesn't have a name...though I imagine someone else at some point in history tied one like it and gave it a name. As I mentioned, I just wanted to tackle married wings. When I got them tied in and saw that they looked decent, I had to finish it out somehow, so decided on red bucktail for the tail, black Antron dubbing, Krystal Flash ribbing, and a black hackle.

 

 

 

Mike

[Fred H. 0]

Great job Mike. You are no the right track and have gotten some good advice.Married wings and quill boddies have a special place in my heart. Can't explain it. I didn't grow up in trout country. There's just something about them . My hats off to those that have truley mastered these techniques . I 'm sure you'll have a great time these the more you do.

Fred

[Futzer 0]

Great Start! Mike, upright married wings are quite hard, as you are pushing against the natural bend of the feather. As you tie in the top side and ever so tiny amount of slip will occur. Try some classic wet fly patterns, the wing management will be more like FDSF's. Fine quality in materials is a must too.

 

Keep it up, Cheers, Jeff.

[steelie 0]

I was playing around for the first time with married quill wings today

(I've been playing around with a lot of stuff for the first time lately...

possibly getting in over my head) , and came out with this. I was so focused

on the wings that I got my ribbing uneven. I used some dyed duck quill I had, but

some of it was pretty ragged. Does anyone know who carries dyed quill...or should

I use something other than duck? Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

Good Day,

 

May I suggest you send a PM to Redwings1 (Mike Schmidt). I consider him to be one of the most knowledgeable tyers in the US with regard to winging, particularly wets, which is really no different than what you are doing. He is a wealth of knowledge. Also, you may wish to post questions about marrying wings in the Classic Salmon portion of the forum. As well, they do it so often!

 

Steelie

[mdraft1 0]

Nice looking fly. I would really like to work on my married wings a bit more. Have you checked out: http://www.feathersmc.com/ They have some pretty amazing tying supplies and they always throw in a few extras with each order.

[Arkansas Mike 0]

Thanks, Fred and Jeff. Jeff, I tied a classic wet fly today.

Steelie, Redwings has been checking out my flies. You are right...those

guys do it often...and do it so well.

mdraft1, Futzer has aimed me towards FeathersMC. I'll be placing plenty of

orders there in the near future. Thanks.

 

 

Mike

[steelie 0]

Thanks, Fred and Jeff. Jeff, I tied a classic wet fly today.

Steelie, Redwings has been checking out my flies. You are right...those

guys do it often...and do it so well.

mdraft1, Futzer has aimed me towards FeathersMC. I'll be placing plenty of

orders there in the near future. Thanks.

 

 

Mike

 

Good Day,

 

You are welcome! And your wings do look really good!

 

Steelie

 

[txflytier 0]

GREAT JOB MIKE. looks great. I have been tring it out here and there. it is fun to do. keep them coming.

 

 

Chance

[Robert_S 0]

Mike if your going to do married wings on drys stick with the duck quills. Goose shoulder and other feathers are fine if your doing a wet fly wing but will split and fall apart when you go to move them to an upright position, the barbs on the duck quill seem to hold together better. Another thing is you should make the width of your wing wider, I count out about 14 barbs for a size 12 hook. I've played around some with married wing drys.

[Arkansas Mike 0]

Thanks, Robert. My wings do look narrow.

Yours are amazing!

 

 

Mike

[Moscow 0]

Wow. Very nice Robert! Is it for fishing or framing?

 

Tim

Moscow, Idaho