Soaking Quills Effectively & Conveniently

above photo: I made a simple test tube stand with a block of Koa and a drill press. A very effective way to soak large quantities of quills with no color bleed using very little space on your table. The footprint is that of a 4x5 index card.

Many of us fly tiers love using quills for bodies, but the problem has always been manufacturers over bleaching quills or not effectively creating a stop bath. The result is quills that have a tendency to crack while you are winding them up a hook shank (even after soaking for a few days). I have bought many packages of quills over the years only to find that a large majority of them really are unusable.

About 17 years ago I purchased a crate of feather dusters from China. The feathers were all made of Chinese rooster with beautiful long quills! I now have a lifetime supply of quills. So if your looking around hardware stores or general stores always look for feather dusters! I have gotten over 200 quills out of one feather duster that costed me only three dollars. A packet of roughly 20 quills will cost you between four and eight dollars depending upon what country you buy them in. If you do the math its a very expensive proposition to tie with quills purchased at retail.

Soaking quills effectively is also part of the problem. I built myself a wooden test tube rack and I can fully immerse and soak multiple colors of quills. Using up valuable space and time with dishes and wet paper towels really is not the way to go if your cranking out a whole bunch of quill bodied flys. I built a test tube rack about four by five inches that holds eight test tubes. With this set up you can soak multiple colors without color bleeding and hundreds of quills if need be.
I hope this is helpful for anyone wanting to tie with quills.

*Also Check out A.K. Best's book Production Fly Tying the 1st edition. This book is great to learn how to strip and dye quills.

~Clint Joseph Bova

Slow Water Caddis Emerger

The Caddis emerger is a very important part of the trouts diet. During this life stage the Caddis is especially vulnerable to the elements and is easy prey thus making it very attractive to these very energy conscious fish. The insect is just about ready to break free of its nymphal shuck and the count down for its launch sequence begins with a few wiggles. I have always been looking for a great surface fly that mimics these little beauties. For a few years now I have gotten a lot of use of this little emerger pattern that tends to out fish most of my other emerger patterns even when there is no discernible hatch. This is a great pattern for super finicky Brown trout. I have fooled many fish with this pattern and with the right combination of materials it is a pattern that stays floating even in fast water for a long time. With the use of TMC's Aero Wing material (extended shuck) the fly is a great floater. The fibers are not only fine but hollow keeping the fly float

CB's Japanese Beetles

above photo: Provided by Debbi T. Walker an Ohio Photographer. Debbi is a talented outdoor photographer who loves to take pictures of insects, animals, and landscapes and often shoots photography around the Mad River and Cedar Bog. In the heat of the summer many fish hunker down during the day and will pass up the occasional Caddis, midge, or ant floating overhead. Often fish conserve energy for a larger more nourishing food item. During the summer months fish want to conserve energy and exert themselves only for the most significant meal. This is called the “Pounds Per Meat Law” again the least amount of energy is expelled for the most nourishment possible. This should be the mid-summer mantra for both fishers and fish! Large ants are another food item that fish will come off of the bottom for during the midday sun and heat. Japanese Beetles are one of those items on the surface menu that will spark a fishes interest when nothing else seems to work. Rise

Spidey Senses~The Irresistible Arachnid

Fishing spider patterns is a favorite activity of mine in the late spring, summer and fall. Many of the spring creeks that I frequent have adjacent fields of corn, soy, feed grass, as well as tall overhead trees and brambles. Spiders are prolific here and as much as I hate them I do love fishing with them. I have tried many patterns over the years most of which were not my own. Most of them were either too clunky, too overdressed, or just downright stupid looking. If I were to cast a wad of sheet foam and rubber bands to a big Brown on most of my usual digs I would be typecasted by most of the coherent fish instantly. After years of hit and miss I settled on my own pattern that just seemed to meet my criteria as well as the Trouts. When your standing in a “hot river” in the middle of the day and you spot a massive brown that just will not budge for the most ingenious morsel you have in your box whip out a spider. Spiders are protein intensive, they are like baklava on a silver

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