I've gotten a little better at tying wet flies with quill wings, but I still have trouble tying wings with mallard flank. Perhaps I just need to search harder through my flanks for stiffer wing sections but I find the flank frays more, whereas turkey or mallard quill sticks together much more firmly resulting in a neater wing. I think with the wing on this abbey it will still catch fish but I would like it if that wing had a more classic wet fly silhouette. Any suggestions for tying wings with mallard flank or lighter feathers in general would be appreciated.
This pattern looks great to me Cory. Don’t know if a stiffer wing of mallard flank would make much difference. If you want to get that “stiff wing look” using mallard flank you can try a very light coat of Dave’s Flexament on the inner sides of your mallard flank prior to tying the wing on. I’d recommend you avoid using non flex glues or resins. Just a thought and, as I said, this fly looks really good to my eyes.
Thanks Bill, I suppose as long as the pattern catches fish it's probably fine the way it is, not to mention it's quicker when you don't have to worry about a "perfect stiff wing". I don't have any Dave's Flexament but I do have solarez flex resin designed to be more flexible for application on knots so I think I'll give that a try for the heck of it. Thanks for the suggestion.
I’ve not used the flex resin but sounds like it could work. Maybe coat just the tips of the mallard flank (should keep the fibers together) and see if that gives the look you want ?????
Cory
1 year ago