MCLEAN'S Quill Body

[Broadheadscreek]

I am a huge fan of quill body fly's as they appear a lot more natural than a standard dubbed body fly and I think many of you would agree.

I finally broke down after years of tying with natural quill for my quill body fly's and decided to try a synthetic quill. What a difference they wind on so nice and smooth no pre soaking involved although I would prefer a little stronger taper to these as you have to build the taper in the body of the fly with your tying thread. The ones I used are MCLEAN'S quill body from Metz got to say they are great they create a beautifull looking fly.

Have any of you tried these out and what are your thoughts on them ?

 

[Andy B]

First off, let me say that's a very pretty fly. You know that would make one hell of a wet fly with that body material. Now look at the transluceny in the material. That will definitly add to catching fish. I think I will have to get some. Do you know if they make them in Blue winged olive and pale morning Dun?

 

[Broadheadscreek]

Thank for your compliment Andy and yes I believe they make them in a number of color's I'll check and get back to you on that. I happened to stop by A&A up in Blakeslee and all he had was sulfur color so I bought some to tye with and seeing the way they work I must agree with you they do make a nice fly and no hassle they go on smooth.

First off, let me say that's a very pretty fly. You know that would make one hell of a wet fly with that body material. Now look at the transluceny in the material. That will definitly add to catching fish. I think I will have to get some. Do you know if they make them in Blue winged olive and pale morning Dun?

 

[Broadheadscreek]

Hi Andy ,

I found them here and they have all the colors available.


Quills, Marabou, Strung Saddle, Spey Hackl

 

[Mayfly]

Broadhead,

You wrote: "I finally broke down after years of tying with natural quill for my quill body fly's and decided to try a synthetic quill."

Now I think I'm correct in saying that McLean's quills are natural porcupine guard hairs that have been dyed. Similarly although not commercially, I developed a natural fiber for quill bodies. I use a certain quality of specially selected peccary hair that I treat, dye, and then treat again to get a soft, pliable, and very durable quill that needs little, if any, soaking.

Allan

 

[Broadheadscreek]

Mayfly,

Thank you for for pointing out the fact that these quills are natural porcupine guard hairs I didn't realise what I had written till after I posted it and didn't make the change. Would also like to see some of your flies tyed with peccary hair to see how they look.

 

[Mayfly]

Broadhead,

I don't have any photos of flies I tied with peccary but you can find photos of a few on this page:


Allan Podell flies

Allan

 

[AKSkim]

Broadhead,

I don't have any photos of flies I tied with peccary but you can find photos of a few on this page:


Allan Podell flies

Allan

You know Mayfly I have looked at the site many a time and now I know NEFF has someone who contributed to that site.

Nice flies.

 

[NJpatbee]

The Quill flies look great on the Website. I have never been able to purchase the proper peacock quills for a Quill Gordon Dry. Do the "peacock" quills have the multi-coloring effect, like the "Red Quill" on the site?

 

[Broadheadscreek]

Hi NJPB,

The answer to your question is yes the better contrasing quills come from the eye of a mature peacock feather. I cheat anymore and buy the pre stripped quills saves alot of time. When I am done tying my fly I give it a couple of light coats of thinned down head cement which brings out the contrast and gives it some depth also this adds to the durrability of your fly.

The Quill flies look great on the Website. I have never been able to purchase the proper peacock quills for a Quill Gordon Dry. Do the "peacock" quills have the multi-coloring effect, like the "Red Quill" on the site?

 

[Mayfly]

Yes, the peacock quill, from the eye of the tail feather, has a distinct segmentation. It's become harder and harder to get good peacock quills. By that I mean quills with a very light and dark segmentation. It's interesting that I recently read the Notes & Letters of Theodore Gordon and even back then even he had a difficult time getting good peacock quills. He describes that the English peacock had larger eyes and a lighter coloration then its sister from the Asian population. I once purchased 50 eyes and found only a couple that had the light color contrasted with the darker edge.

NJ - The only difference between a 'Red Quill' and the 'Quill Gordon' is that the former has a body of stripped red/brown hackle(Rhode Island Red) and the latter has a body of stripped peacock quill.

Allan

 

[BRK TRT]

Thats a real crisp looking fly. Very nice.