How to Tie Using Quill Fly
- 1). Clamp the hook in the vise and begin wrapping the thread at the one-half point on the shank. Wrap the thread to the hook bend and tie in the tail of the fly. Hackle fibers are common for mayfly tails but microfibbets and other thin fibers are also effective.
- 2). Select a large peacock feather with a dark blue eye. The eye is the round blue area near the base of the feather. Pull one of the fibers near the center of the blue eye and remove it from the feather. The fibers near the center of the feather are the most rigid and durable.
- 3). Hold a razor blade on the edge of a table. Tilt the blade at an angle that contacts the fuzz on the quill without cutting the stem. Pull the quill across the blade until you remove all of the soft fibers.
- 4). Place one end of the stripped quill onto the hook bend and make 10 thread wraps to secure it on the hook. Wrap the thread two-thirds of the way down the hook shank. Wrap the quill around the hook shank until you reach the thread, then make an additional 10 thread wraps. Make a slight overlap with each quill wrap to create a segmented body. Cut the excess quill off the hook.
- 5). Tie the remainder of the fly pattern. Quill body dry flies call for hackle and wings, and quill body nymphs call for a thorax and wing pads.
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