101 Favorite Dry Flies by David Klausmeyer

Author:David Klausmeyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2013-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

51

Cahill Quill

Hook: Regular dry-fly hook, sizes 16 to 10.

Thread: Tan 8/0.

Tail: Ginger hackle fibers.

Body: Stripped herl from the eye of a peacock.

Wing: Wood duck flank fibers.

Hackle: Ginger.

THE LIGHT CAHILL (THERE IS A SEPARATE FLY PATTERN BY that name) is one of our most dependable summer mayflies. In some areas, the duns have a tendency to emerge throughout the day, and the trout never seem to key in to them; in other locations, you might encounter a more vigorous hatch that gets the fishes’ attention.

There are many patterns designed to imitate the light Cahill insects, and the Cahill Quill is certainly a member of that family. Mike Valla’s rendition of this important pattern is delicate and perfectly proportioned; use it as a model when tying your own Cahill Quills.

A note about tying with stripped-peacock herl: although the body of the finished fly has a lovely segmentation, the herl is not very durable. Place a drop of cement on the thread underbody before wrapping the herl, or place a drop of cement on the completed herl body. Either method increases the durability of the body.

Making Split Flank-feather Wings

There are a couple of ways to tie lovely Catskill-style wings. Wood duck feathers are more expensive that dyed mallard, so some tiers place one wood duck feather on the hook and then divide the fibers in half to create the two wings. Traditionally, tiers used two feathers placed back-to-back.

Since this information is going into a book, and it will live forever, I will use two real wood duck feathers. (Besides, I hunt ducks, and I’ll collect more wood duck flank feathers this autumn.)

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