Any advice on tying in woodduck wings on a Tomah Joe?

[Alberto]

I have been playing around with tying fancy bass flies from the book Forgotten Flies. The pattern I have been working on this week is the Tomah Joe and I'm having a really hard time getting the woodduck feather wings to sit upright since the shape of the stem makes them twist as you tie them down. Any advice on how to get the feather stems to sit flat on top of the hook shank?

This is not the wet fly Tomah Joe with barred woodduck slip wings, this one is being tied on a big size 6 blind-eye salmon hook so the wings are actually a matched pair of woodduck wings.

I'm going to try and get my camera setup to post some photos of the flies as I complete them. So far I have tied:

Parmacheene Belle
New Lake
Tomah Joe (working)

Also, several featherwing streamers.

Thanks in advance,

Alberto

[hap]

You are correct, wood duck flank feathers are tough to tie in whole... A lot of variations I have seen use the slips you mentioned, but some find them harder to tie than whole feathers. But here are a few things that should help...

Choose smaller flatter feathers from the middle of the flank rather than the huge ones. Look for the smallest matched pair as they will still be plenty large for a size 6 salmon fly hook. Leave the stems as long as possible until they are tied in and the head wraps are being placed.

Before tying them in place the prepared flank feathers between wet paper towels and microwave for a few seconds. Just enough to get some steam rising and leave them there until you are ready to tie them in. You can steam them if you prefer and then place them between damp papertowels if preferred.

Finish tying off the collar with the stem on the near side pointed up and cut off flush with the top of the hook shank. That will create a smallish flat right at the start of the head.

Make a tiny thread dam at the very back of the head as you are getting ready to set the wings. I tie almost exclusively with extremely fine thread and usually make just 6 wraps (two side-by-side then one through the middle, repeat atop the first three) but thicker thread should take just three wraps.

Place the warm wood duck feathers back to back and in position. Note how the stems ride as they cross over the thread dam and then crease the stems with a fingernail so they are flattened with the flats riding over the dam flat or slightly high to the middle.

I prefer to wrap both in at once and usually that is fairly easy. Wrap around the stems right on top of the thread dam but pinch the thread between your fingertips on the way up and then continue down around the stems just as close to the first wrap as possible. Then tighten the wraps by pulling STRAIGHT up gently.

If you continue to have issues tie in a very small bunch of unbarred wood duck fibers right in the middle of the top of the head to separate the feathers slightly and prop them up. Keep the bunch as round and tight as possible and tie it just in front of the dam.

Do not trim the stems until the head is mostly wrapped. If tying for presentation I will often put head cement on before finishing the wrapping and let it dry so I cannot knock the feathers loose.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

[Alberto]

Hap,

Thanks for the tips, I will try them tonight. One question on using the bunch of woodduck fibers, do you tie them parallel with the hook shank? This is to give the feather stems a softer cushion to lay into, correct?

A bit more info on the hook, found a photo of the package on my phone, I'm using a Gaelic Supreme Lee Schecter's Mary Orvis Marbury Allocks Kensey 5907 size 8 Blind Eye Bass Hook. Although it says size 8 on the package (6 hooks per package), this is a BIG hook, total length of the hook is about 2 inches. Maybe I should have gone with something smaller to start.

Hopefully I will have some photos to post tonight, again, thank you.

Alberto

[hap]

Yes, parallel to the shank of the hook and just to provide a small area for the flank feather stems to ride against as they are tied in. By keeping them in place it will keep them from rolling, which is the demon you need to look out for.

If you start tying Rangely style streamers you may want to use the tiny clump between the wings trick there, too...

As the techniques kick in you will probably want to drop some of them and you may prefer to tie them in one at a time.

Good luck

[Alberto]

Success! Steaming the feathers softened the stem, making it easier to flatten. Using head cement between steps also helped keep everything in place. Thanks for the advice. I will post photos in a separate post.

Alberto

[Gigmaster]

The only thing I can add is:

"Patience, my friend....Patience and perseverance..."

[Alberto]

Gig,

Those words are so true. First set of wings went on wonderfully. Second one I tried to tie was a disaster but I will keep trying different techniques until I find a consistent one.

Alberto