Pretty fly and a great job on the wings! I find it easiest to just tie them on the hook the first trip down with the thread, get them close, and use some dubbing or hackle winds to fine tune alignment as I work back up from tail to head. I have lots of quills in my boxes, but must admit I seldom fish them. Reason being, I can't tie the perfect aerodynamic fly. That being, my creations windmill through the air. The dry flies with their very erect wings are the worst. With extremely light tippets, I end up with a twisted leader giving the appearance of a pile of noodles dropped on the water with a tiny fly sampling sauce at the edge. Some of the issue might be due to too much false casting. With less air time, I'd probably have less twisting. Wet flies, where the wings are more layed back, are less of a problem. Most of my working flies are feather or hair winged. I have been doing some married (layers of different colors) quill wings on some recent steelhead patterns. They are beautiful to look at, but I have soooo much time and effort into their creation that the thought of abusing them at the end of the line is more than I can stand. So far they are just flybox dressing. Looking forward to the exchange. 1Minute P.S. An after thought.... When the exchange has been completed, I would enjoy a new thread with a posting from each member expressing their thoughts on the most effective presentations for their pattern.
Last edited by 1minute; 12/01/06.
