Hi everyone-
I’m just getting into tying traditonal winged wets, and wondered what are everybody’s favorite sorce of materials. Mostly wings and skins and stuff from lots of interesting birds seems to be what is hard to find. Is there a good source for woodduck that won’t break the bank? Grouse wings, golden plover, etc. etc. etc.?? Thanks.
I mostly tie soft hackles instead of traditional wets but if you want to tie up a storm without breaking the bank and don’t have friends that can shoot straight (:lol:) here are some options:
For wings:
You can buy small packages of wood duck breast feathers (a dozen feathers), or a better value are breast or flank feathers dyed to wood duck color (1/4 oz package, with more feathers) for about $4.00
Matched pair of mallard wings for about $3.00 or for bigger flies, a package of 2 matched pairs of Goose wing quills (4 feathers) for about $2.00
For hackling wets:
You can use packages of grouse/partridge feathers (maybe 1/4 oz) for about $2.00 (As opposed to a whole skin for $20-25. And a better alternative to a whole grouse skin might be a might be a JV Hen from www.conranch.com for about the same $. They’re bred for wetfly use and have stems that are easier to work with.)
For light color hackling (creams and duns) hen capes are probably the way to go or saddles if you’r tying larger wets. I’d personally go for Hen or JV Hens from Conranch ( You get the cape, saddle and extra bits). Other options are Brahma hens, Whiting Coq De Leon hen capes for sizes 10-16 for around $15 and even Indian Hen Necks (but only for large wets size 10 and up) for around $5.
For hackling small wets (down to size 20) you can use Starling. Starling skins go for around $5.00
All of the above should be available through FAOL sponsors and your local fly shop. I’d start out with the packages of grouse, wood duck dyed flank feathers, a pair of matched Duck Wings, and a starling skin first, and expect to get sucked into whole grose and hen skins down the road and as I “needed” them.
Hope this helps.
peregrines
^^^^I wasn’t swearing in the above post^^^^and don’t want anyone to think I was, but apparently the software thought so. I was referring to being “drawn in”…
I tie a lot of winged wet flies. I don’t feel most of the materials are that hard to find. Mallard quills of different colors are pretty easy to find. Mottled turkey is fairly easy to come by these days. Most of the other wings are mallard flank, wood duck flank, or teal. Mallard flank is cheap. Wood duck flank is pricey but not terrible. I buy it to make the wings on Catskill dries. Whatever is left over from each feather, I use for the wings on wet flies. You can also buy mallard flank that has been dyed to the wood duck color. Not quite the same but not bad either. Some tiers even prefer it on wet flies.
I’m afraid golden plover doesn’t come cheap. Best source I know is Jim Slattery http://www.jimsflyco.com/html/wet_fly_supplies.html
who carries a good selection of other skins for traditional soft hackles.
If you are thinking of using partridge, I think you would be much better off buying a whole skin rather than a package of feathers. The package will not have the smaller feathers that you will want to use, and one skin will last you for a long, long time. It’s a bigger investment up front, but a much better value for the money.
Hi RCream,
If you are thinking of marrying slips as well, such as for the Parmachene Belle, then I recomend buying pre-dyed goose shoulder feathers. I’ve found they marry very nicely. I tried dying some white duck quills myself, and botched it (my dye gummed up the feathers and most attempts to marry two strips ended up being an exercise in futility).
P.S. I agree on buying the partridge skin if you are get into soft hackles. And they are excellent flies to have.
were do you find predyed goose quills?
I dye the white ones myself and have had no problems marrying the wings.
here’s a widow…
Go to a craft store or craft department and get a pack of multicolored “Indian Feathers” used for kids’ Indian headdresses and other art projects. They are matched duck quills that are dyed in different colors. There should be a large size feather pack (large feathers) and a small size feather pack (small feathers). About as cheap as you can get and they work great :).
Hi,
My Aunt sent me a bunch of dyed goose feathers from a Nova Scotian fly shop. She lives in Truro, but the shop may have been in Halifax. Anyway, here in New Zealand I haven’t been able to find any dyed feathers for wings. Wee wets are not overly popular here, and the married winged versions are unheard of. That’s why I had to try dying my own. I’m sure if it’s done properly it should turn out fine (as demonstrated by Mr. Blur; nice fly by the way!), but my first and only attempt was a disaster. Also, the dye didn’t set properly so the few flies I did get tied have all had the colour run and so my P. Belle’s all have a pinkish wing. Sigh.
thanks everyone. heres another question: for married wings, do you prefer goose or duck??
A tip I got from the late Poul Jorgensen was to use Goose secondaries.
Jim
I like to tie flies that I intend to fish, therefore they are on the small side. For that reason I usually use duck rather than goose.
Hi,
I’m happy with the goose feathers tying sizes 12 and 14. Haven’t tried smaller, but see no reason not too. However, given the length of the slips, I can tie 3 flies (size 14) from one set of prepared married strips.
Now, that being said, I’ve not had the chance to properly compare goose with duck since my brief adventure into dying was less than satisfactory. I suspect, however, that a good set of duck quills would work really well.
thanks for all the good info. I am still looking for favorite websites and catalogs if anybody has them.
I remember being confused by this last night when I first read it. I still can’t get my head around it. you’re trimming the slips to length? and not using the natural tailing edge of the feather for the back of the wing? does that make sense as I’ve explained it?
For married wings I use duck when possible. They seem to marry better and are the traditional material. When the flies are bigger; I’ll go to goose.
R.Cream:
I got a huge supply of both in all the colors hand picked by the master himself, Don Bastian. Sadly I read on another website that Don’s wife passed away this past Thursday so obviously he needs some time before anybody should bother him with something as unimportant as fly tying materials.
Chris Helm of [url=http://www.whitetailflytieing.com/:5f508]Whitetail Flytying[/url:5f508] is another great source of supplies and info.
I had the same thought.
Hi,
Yes, for the “bonus” flies the end of the wing is not pointed, but a cut edge.
Let’s say I was tying a parmachene belle. After marrying the red/white/red pieces of goose feather, I would end up with something a few inches long. The first fly would end up with the wings ending in pointed tips (like that posted on page 1; which looks best). Once I cut the wing off at the eye, I still have enough “wing” length to tie one or two more, although the end of the wing will not be a point. So, I just use the remaing length. Those tied with the “extra bits” have a square end wing rather than a pointed wing. They catch fish just fine, though one wouldn’t tie them for competition or display this way.
I don’t have a photo, so I’ve tried to draw something that resembles what I end up with to give you an idea.
Not the best photos I’ve taken (I did quick shots, sorry about that. I could have done better if I had taken the time) or my best tied wet flies so they won’t win any tying ribbons but they get the job done :). Matching duck quill sections for the wings ala “Indian Feathers.” The Yellow Miller is all yellow except for the gold beading wire rib. Hackle fiber tail and hackle collar with a yellow floss body, yellow thread head. Bream eat these so they will take a beating if I don’t lose them first. I prefer my wet fly wings with curvature down as you can see because I like how they swim with the curvature down. I also like the hackle collar as opposed to a beard or throat because I feel it gives the impression of a lot of legs to the bream.
#10 Yellow Miller
#10 McGinty
I just bought some from www.kman.com (kauffman streamborn). Am thinking about tying some Fontanalis Fins. Couldn’t find natural/gray there though. I am going to have to use black.