How I prepare feathers for DRY FLY WINGS.

by Tony Downing

Always try to buy the best quality wings you can afford, and I find that TEAL is one of the best birds for really good feathers. I get most of mine from Steve Cooper at,

http://www.cookshill-flytying.co.uk/



To take individual feathers from a wing I use a craft knife, and carefully cut each quill in turn, ONE MATCHING QUILL FROM EACH WING. Then tape them together with masking tape. When you have your ‘pairs’, take a close look at the quill of a single feather, you will notice it has a groove running along its back. Using your craft knife, carefully cut along this groove, a little at a time, until you separate the two halves. Keep the longer fibred half, disregard the other. Now take a marker pen, and colour along the cut quill of each feather, each pair with its own colour





The picture below shows a matching pair of wing slips ready for tying in. You will also notice that there is a piece of quill on each slip. That will keep all the fibres in place whilst being tied in, trim these when you are sure that your tying in is correct. How many times have your wings dropped to bits. Not any more.





Caddisman

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