Let’s say you are going to make a quill by stripping the feather fibers from a rooster neck feather (taken from the back of the cape where the feathers are not dry fly quality).
Is it best to soak them before wrapping around the hook shank? Is so, do you use water? other liquid?
After completion, is it then best-form to coat the quill-covered shank with nail polish or head cement?
How fragile are the resulting flies? Do they last for just a few fish, or will they last longer?
Lots of questions because I have never tied a quill-body fly before.
I soak them and I coat them with head cement and I find them to be very durable. To be really safe, go ahead and counter-rib them with a fine mono.
I keep them between moist paper towel when I am working with them, but I have also used more recent genetic hackle dry with no issues–they are already plenty thin and supple.
Eric Leiser in the “Complete Book of Fly Tying” says to strip the quills by soaking in bleach first (I use a small plastic bottle) to cleanly remove all the fibers. Then soak in a glycerin (from drug store) and water mix (plastic bottle again) to soften so they are pliable enough to bend around a hook shank. To strengthen the quill body, he recommends adding a white silk thread overwrap criss-crossed over the body. Then add a drop of Spar varnish. The thread “seems” to visibly disappear after the varnish. Let the body dry. Pretty durable. I have used a yellow hackled peacock quill body dry fly in a size 12 on wild Georgia mountain trout and it held up very well after numerous trout. I still have that particular fly in my trout fly box . Quill bodies work good for wet flies too .
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 15 May 2006).]
If you are tying for yourself, I am of the opinion that it’s best to strip the quills by hand rather than bleach. If you’re tying commercially, say hundreds of flies, then bleach is faster and eassier. However the resulting quills are more fragile and brittle. Either way, you should soak the stripped quills for a few minutes. I just moisten a small towel with hot water, put the quills on one side and fold the towel over so that the quills are enveloped in it. Of course you can put the water in a tall glass or container and put the quills in it.
For durability I will place a tiny drop of head cement on the shank immediately before winding the quill. Also, a fine layer of head cement over the quill does two things. It adds more durability and it highlights the segmentation.
If you are tying for yourself, I am of the opinion that it’s best to strip the quills by hand rather than bleach. If you’re tying commercially, say hundreds of flies, then bleach is faster and eassier. However the resulting quills are more fragile and brittle.
I disagree. Stripping by hand or manually has caused damage to the quills as strips of the quill can be pulled off the shaft when I have done it. Cutting off the fibers leaves fiber stubs for me. I have and can use a pencil eraser to strip herl from a peacock quill but cannot do this for other kinds of quills. But the bleach cleanly burns the fibers off the quill without damage to the quill and if soaking in glycerin and water, they are pliable, not brittle.
I save the inferior hackle (mis-shape, or barb sections missing), or the leftovers from pick-over skins, for my quills.
I soak them in a bleach solution, 1/2 bleach -1/2 soapy water (liquid dish soap, lot of water - little soap).
After the hackle has dissolved, I then rinse the quills in clear water. And leave them to dry on some paper towels.
I can either dye them in bulk, or color them with a permanent marker. And let them dry again.
Before using I use a some hand cream to to soften them. Allowing a few minutes for the cream to soak in, before wiping any excess off.
After that they are ready to go, and can be stored in a zip lock sandwich bag.
~ Parnelli
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Careful about soaking the quills in anything that will penetrate and stay in he fibers (glycerin, hand cream?). These things ‘may’ cause the quill to be heavier and/or cause it to soak up water.
Don’t know this will happen or be a problem, but keeping the quills as light as possible seems to me to be part of the idea around using them in the first place…
I’ve always used vinegar first, then water, allowing the quills to dry completely before coating with some lacquer.
I should have mentioned that I use my quills for nymph abdomens, not dry abdomens. So I hope this clears things up.
It is my belief that the footprint (dimples) on the water surface are more important than the dry fly body color or shape. That is why I use Chinese Boar Hair for the split tails (bristles on paint brushes for oil, found at Home Depot) and using the Thorax Wrap for the collar. ~Parnelli
Vinegar is also what neutralizes the effects of the bleach and stops it from ruining the enamel of the quill…
AK gives very detailed instructions on all of the steps in his book Dyeing and Bleaching Natural Materials
It’s also the burnt out pores left from the burnt fibers that allow the dye to penetrate the quill and provide the dark liner stripe for the segmented appearance… Just some things I’ve noticed…
Can’t sit quiet on this one. NEVER soak your quills in anything that readily mixes with water. Soaking in water is all that’s needed. If you use anything like hand cream or glycerin (both of which readily mix with water). the fly will absorb water as soon as you cast it on the stream. Besides that, the glycerin or hand cream or hair conditioner takes up space inside the quill that you wish your fly floatant could. And, you don’t need to reinforce the quill with anything like head lacquer or reverse wrapped wire. If properly prepared, a quill body is very durable just the way it is. There is a perception that all quills are fragile because of the Quill Gordon which is not really tied with a quill body, but a stripped peacock herl, which is fragile. The peacock herl is the equivalent of a hackle fiber taken from the quill. Another misunderstanding about materials and their use.
If you use anything like hand cream or glycerin (both of which readily mix with water). the fly will absorb water as soon as you cast it on the stream.
Not in my experience and I’ve used lots of quill body flies. But then again, I soak mine in a glycerin/water mixture. Not glycerin by itself.
Besides that, the glycerin or hand cream or hair conditioner takes up space inside the quill that you wish your fly floatant could.
I don’t put fly floatant on the quill body anyway, I put it on the hackle to help a dry fly float. Stiff hackle floats the fly, not the quill body.
The peacock herl is the equivalent of a hackle fiber taken from the quill. Another misunderstanding about materials and their use.
Yep . Herl is taken from a peacock quill shaft. “Fibers” on the herl would probably be a better term. I stand corrected.
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 15 May 2006).]
I’ve been using the instructions from A. K.'s book for prepping my quills with good results. After burning the fibers from the quills in the bleach/water solution, they need to be soaked in a solution of water and baking soda to neutalize the effects of the bleach on the quills. The type of hackle used for the quills makes a big difference in the end results. I haven’t been able to find strung chinese neck hackle so I have been buying chinese rooster necks (very inexpensive) and plucking the desired size from them.
Steve
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went”-Will Rogers
. Quill bodies work good for wet flies too 
.