Blue quill (dry tutorial)

[Ian]

This is a simple dry fly to tie and should be in any river fly fisherman’s box.

[Iasgair]

Ian, great looking wings. You are a master at those. And I also hate you for that.
I do have to ask one question, and the question is, why are you using hen hackle instead of rooster hackle for a dry fly?

[Ian]

Ian, great looking wings. You are a master at those. And I also hate you for that.
I do have to ask one question, and the question is, why are you using hen hackle instead of rooster hackle for a dry fly?

Hi iasgair.

Cock hackles are great on dries only because the fibres point straight and stay tight thanks to their stiffness,and therefore are pleasing to the eye in my view.
Hen hackles tend to splay as they are wound on,with some fibres pointing forward towards the eye or back towards the bend,and so don’t look as pleasing to the eye.
I prefer the soft hen hackles. They spread easier underneath the fly and so spread the weight of the fly.
I also don’t mind using cock hackles on heavy wet fly hooks.

[Iasgair]

Just goes to prove that in fly tying you are only limited to your imagination.

Well done, Ian.