What is the best substitute for lemon wood duck feathers for use on a Catskill style dry fly and what is a good source for it?
I’ve never seen a good sub, although mallard flank dyed to the right shade would be my first thought. Gadwall flank is a little dark for that as a sub. Some other duck species might have suitable feathers as well.
If you need lemon woodduck, there ARE sources out there, both commercial and the local duck hunter network. Let me know if you can’t find any.
I did a quick Google and it was not hard to find.
Mad River Outfitters
Hook & Hackle
and several others.
I agree with DG; mallard flank dyed the right shade. I’ve used the skins from red onions with success. Boil the skins from about 7-10 onions for 15-20 minutes. Discard skins. Wet feathers by washing them in warm soapy water and then rinse very well. Add feathers to onion skin bath — make sure bath is not a rolling boil — a heat bubble here and there is okay and let feathers soak for about 10-15 minutes. Add capful of vinegar to make the color “set”. Rinse feathers and let them dry. The result should be some beautiful lemon wood duck substitutes.
Sorry guys:
There is no substitue for Wood Duck on a Catskill Dry Fly. I have seen almost every imitation of Dyed Mallard flank out there and it still looks fake and horrible. Honestly if you want to tye Catskill style Dry Flies then you need to use the real thing. A Catskill Fly tied with out REAL wood duck is NOT a Catskill fly and is nothing more than a shame. Wood Duck Flank is available and can be aquired. You just need to know where to look.
Andy Brasko
Member of The Catskill Fly Tyers Guild
I’m not a Catskill purist by any means, but I’d try to get the real thing. The markings are more distinct and the texture of the fibers is much nicer than dyed mallard.
About a week ago I saw an auction for a large bag full of woodduck feathers. It was enough to last a long time. I don’t remember the asking price but it seems it was about 10 bucks, cheap considering the number of feathers offered.
I would suggest you keep an eye on E Bay as hunting season is on and who knows what you might run across.
Panman
Like the song says: “ain’t nothin’ like the real thing!” There’s just nothing quite like bona fide wood duck flank. Dyed mallard just looks too fake for something like Catskill dry flies. Do some looking around on Ebay or around town for some duck hunters. Season down there starts on Halloween this year, and early season should be a good time to find woodies. I shot a nice drake yesterday, matter of fact.
In my opinion, accept no substitute on this one!
Hi All,
I too think wood duck is absolutely beautiful, and I do have a few feathers. A friend gave me a large piece of cross fox hide a few years ago, and I have used the red fox areas from the hide to tie genuine Hendricksons, and they are really beautiful flies.
The marking on the feathers is truly spectacular, and the barred feathers are unmatched for tailing of the Edson tiger that calls for it. The barred wood duck feathers are also nice to have for the Cajun coachman.
That said I also have a couple of bags of mallard dyed wood duck. They aren’t as nice, for sure, but I tie flies with them, because I think that the fish are not nearly so picky as fly fishermen. Most of the flies I actually fish with are Wulff type flies instead of Catskills anyway.
Hope not to stir folks up too much, just wanted to add my 2 cents worth.
Regards,
Gandolf