Red Quill

[GenCon]

One of my favorite harches of Spring is the Hendrickson hatch.
One of my favorite flies to tie is the red quill. These are size 12.
I like to tie any fly with a quill body. Mainly due to the quill giving a nice segmented look. Ya just can't get that with dubbing. Hope you like them too.

GenCon

 

[odizz17]

Those are some great lookin' dries. The quills really do improve the look of a fly, dry or nymph for that matter. I'd like to order some dyed quills pretty soon, does anyone have any suggestions on where to look? Bass pro in HBG doesn't have them, and I'd rather not drive to cabelas just for quills...

 

[J55tyger88]

mike,
those are so cool. I really like the way you displayed the two in first pic. awesome!

 

[lv2nymph]

Those are some fine looking ties there GC. I love the look and profile you get with those. I agree with you, any fly I've tied with quills has been a winner.

 

[GenCon]

Thanks guys, odizz17 just for your info. they are not dyed quills. They are stripped quills from a Rohde Island Red. You can buy them pre stripped. Or strip them your self. If you do a search you will find them.

GenCon

 

[turkey]

These are really sharp lookin' flies. I love the quill bodies. Nicely done.

 

[dc410]

Nicely done! There is just something cool (and very traditional) about a well tied Catskill style dry fly.

 

[FrequentTyer]

Nicely done, and a great pattern. There is nothing to criticize on that fly, but I do have a small suggestion. Try moving the wing back about one eye length. That's fairly traditional in the true Catskill style, and I think you will find that they float better and present a better profile to the fish.
Mike.

 

[drumat26]

Awesome ties. They look nice. The display on the first pic is awesome

 

[GenCon]

Yes, I know better than to crowd the eye. One of my many short comings. Thank you all for the nice comments.

GenCon

 

[lv2nymph]

GC thought it would be good to post a fly I showed him. It's one of the sulphurs I tie Ala A.K.Best. It fishes very well. Remember while your looking at it I'm a nympher first!

The wings are cream but they look white in the pic.

 

[FrequentTyer]

Not bad for a bottom dredger;-)
That's a great fly Jack!

GenCon wrote:
Yes, I know better than to crowd the eye. One of my many short comings. Thank you all for the nice comments.

GenCon

I can tell you know better than to crowd the eye because those eyes ain't crowded.
Below is a picture of a red quill tied by the originator Art Flick. Notice how the wings are placed further from the eye and there is actually some bare hook showing. This has the effect of shifting the fly's center of gravity and improves the way a sparsly hackled fly will float. As dense hackle collars became dominate, the wings have shifted forward in the modern "western" style dry fly.

 

[afishinado]

FrequentTyer wrote: Below is a picture of a red quill tied by the originator Art Flick. Notice how the wings are placed further from the eye and there is actually some bare hook showing.

The bare hook in the front was to accommodate the turle knot used to attach flies back in the day.

Good advice to tie in wings a little back from the eye. It does balance the fly. I recall tying some Catskills with the wings tied too far forward and the flies had a tendency to flip over head-first on the water.

Besides check out what you are imitating in the first place....

 

[GenCon]

lv2nymph,very nice fly. What feather are you using for the quill. It's got great color.

GenCon

 

[lv2nymph]

I buy these in a pack pre stripped, "Quill Body" D's Flyes is what is on the card. I find them pretty much everywhere so they are not difficult to locate. They are the Sulphur color. All of the colors have nice tones.

 

[FrequentTyer]

afishinado wrote:
The bare hook in the front was to accommodate the turle knot used to attach flies back in the day.

True, but there are some interesting things about it. Gordon, the father of the Catskill style drys, left space but did not use the turle knot. It is not found on wets or nymphs of the period either. Finally, Flick and others would often fill the space with a large bullet shaped head. So the turle knot explanation doesn't explain everything.
I guess what's important for the modern tyer as Afish points out is the position of the wings to both balance and present the right profile.
Mike.

 

[Festus]

Nice!

 

[mcwillja]

GenCon,

Do you have success with a size 12? I'm just curious because the red quill is typically smaller than the female hendrickson. Most red quills i have fished over were a size 16 but Im sure it varies from stream to stream.

 

[mike_richardson]

Great looking flies!

Have any of you tried the synthetic quill bodies? I believe you we them, then clear goo them. Saw it in my catalog the other day.

 

[attackone]

mike_richardson wrote:
Great looking flies!

Have any of you tried the synthetic quill bodies? I believe you we them, then clear goo them. Saw it in my catalog the other day.

i have used the mayfly body from hends which is pretty much the samething...you just over lap them around the hook and it will have the segmented look