The pattern notebook · dry
Blue Quill Variant
How do you tie a Blue Quill Variant?
Blue Quill Variant is a dry fly pattern for trout. Find its 5 materials and 29 tying steps below.
- Difficulty
- 2 of 5
- Target species
- trout
- Pattern designer
- Phil Gay
Added to catalog · Updated
At the vise
Materials
- Hook: Fulling Mill FM5050 Ultimate Dry, size 16
- Thread: Veevus 16/0 Brown
- Tail: Medium dun hackle fibers
- Body: Natural ringneck pheasant tail fibers
- Hackle: Medium dun hackle
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Tying instructions
Secure the hook in the vise.
Start the thread leaving an eye-length space behind the eye.
Leave a tag that extends back from the hook at least four inches.
Wrap the thread to the hook bend.
Select a larger feather from the outside edge of the cape with long, stiff, straight fibers.
Pull a half dozen or so fibers down perpendicular to the stem.
Hold their tips and pull the stem away to strip the fibers free.
Measure to form a tail of full hook-in length.
Transfer that measurement rearward to the start of the hook bend.
Snip the butt ends off at the initial thread tie-in point.
Place the fibers on top of the hook shank and take thread wraps to secure them.
Select natural ringneck pheasant tail fibers to create the body of the fly.
Preen down four or five fibers perpendicular to the stem.
Pull the feather away to strip them free.
Snip off the little curlies.
Flip the fibers around so you are holding them in the fingers of your left hand.
Use the hook as a brace for your scissors and snip just the brittle tips off square.
Give your bobbin a gentle counter-clockwise spin.
Wrap the fibers to the top of the hook shank almost all the way back up to that initial thread tie-in point.
Secure the tag with wraps of tying thread, then snip the excess off close.
Select a feather with fibers appropriate in length for the hook size.
Snip the stem off to get rid of any lower, webby and fuzzy fibers.
Preen down eight to ten fibers on both sides of the stem and snip them into a little Christmas tree shape to form a tie-in anchor.
Lay the tie-in anchor against the near side of the hook and take nice tight thread wraps to secure it.
Sweep the fibers rearward and take a few more thread wraps to hold them back.
Snip off any fibers that avoided the sweep.
Use a whip finish tool to do a four or five turn whip finish.
Seat the knot well and snip your tying thread free.
Apply a drop of head cement to the thread wraps and allow to sink in and dry.