What’s your ‘go to’ Material for Hopper Wings

[Esoxbum]

I’m kinda shocked how hard it is to find olive dyed mottled turkey feathers/quills. Not sure I want to pay $40 for an olive CDL hen saddle. Does anyone know of a company that sells smaller amounts of said CDL? Kinda like the whiting tailing packs?

 

[tomgamber]

I have had great same lot of turkey quills for two decades. They are not dyed. Just what the guy i knew who hunted turkey had to offer at the time.

 

[Esoxbum]

I have had great same lot of turkey quills for two decades. They are not dyed. Just what the guy i knew who hunted turkey had to offer at the time.

I always used the nature’s spirit micro-flecked turkey. Recently ran out and havn’t found a substitute that Iooks as good (in olive). For brown/tan hoppers I’ll use turkey I acquired on the side of state route 51

 

[5footfenwick]

If you have some extra lighter colored ones, you could maybe try dying them first for a quick cheap fix. Olive magic marker from the craft store maybe. 🤔
Might not be a great finished product, who knows? It won’t cost you 40 bucks to find out.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Esoxbum,

Just go catch live ones and pluck the wings off and shellac them.

If you honestly think any fish ever approached a grasshopper fly and said, "Gee Ralph, those wings look kind of sus to me, what do you think" you are grossly overthinking things!

It's a fat bug, they don't care.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Esoxbum]

If you have some extra lighter colored ones, you could maybe try dying them first for a quick cheap fix. Olive magic marker from the craft store maybe. 🤔
Might not be a great finished product, who knows? It won’t cost you 40 bucks to find out.

Was actually thinking of trying a fl. yellow
hi-lighter, hi-liter? Yellow and blue make green. Maybe fl. yellow and brown make, uh, yellowish brown?

 

[nfrechet]

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=paired+turkey+wing+feathers&ref=search_bar&instant_download=false

 

[poopdeck]

Deer hair

 

[Esoxbum]

Deer hair

Was planning on trying it. I probably have every shade of olive bucktail imaginable.

 

[Bamboozle]

I’m kinda shocked how hard it is to find olive dyed mottled turkey feathers/quills. Not sure I want to pay $40 for an olive CDL hen saddle. Does anyone know of a company that sells smaller amounts of said CDL? Kinda like the whiting tailing packs?

Back during the Civil War when I started fly fishing, the Confederate soldiers used to tell me that a Muddler Minnow fished dry was a great hopper pattern. They were right...

For that reason my hoppers look a lot like Muddler Minnows and have a deer hair wing. IF I want to get scientific, I may slap on slips from a turkey wing or tail...

In the natural brown color...

That being said, I'll go on record as saying terrestrials have different colorization depending where you encounter them, BUT they are opportunistic meals so when they land (with a splat) on the water, 99% of fish will clobber them regardless of size or color.

That's the reason I tie only one size ant, beetle, bee, inchworm, caterpillar, cricket, hopper or cicada...

If it HAS to be olive turkey; feathers aren't the hardest thing to dye. I used to custom dye a ton of materials, not because I was convinced exact shades mattered, but because it added a fun element to my tying.

Good luck!!

 

[Esoxbum]

Back during the Civil War when I started fly fishing, the Confederate soldiers used to tell me that a Muddler Minnow fished dry was a great hopper pattern. They were right...

For that reason my hoppers look a lot like Muddler Minnows and have a deer hair wing. IF I want to get scientific, I may slap on slips from a turkey wing or tail...

In the natural brown color...

That being said, I'll go on record as saying terrestrials have different colorization depending where you encounter them, BUT they are opportunistic meals so when they land (with a splat) on the water, 99% of fish will clobber them regardless of size or color.

That's the reason I tie only one size ant, beetle, bee, inchworm, caterpillar, cricket, hopper or cicada...

If it HAS to be olive turkey; feathers aren't the hardest thing to dye. I used to custom dye a ton of materials, not because I was convinced exact shades mattered, but because it added a fun element to my tying.

Good luck!!

My OCD can’t help it! Civil War …. Lol