Black Mallard Flank Feathers

Black Mallard Flank Feathers

Black is the color you tie when the light goes bad and the fish get mean. Dyed black mallard flank keeps a ghost of its barring, so you get a dark silhouette with movement, not a dead black blob. It’s the collar on a winter steelhead swinger and the legs on a stonefly that has no business looking that good.

What you get: About 60 feathers in a 2 gram bag. Sizes are mixed, small to Spey-collar large. We pull the junk, so you’re not paying for broken stems.

Recipe 1: Midnight Spey Soft Hackle

• Hook: Daiichi 2441 or similar Spey hook, #4–#8
• Thread: Black 6/0
• Tag: Fine silver oval tinsel
• Body: Black floss, rear half; black seal-sub dubbing, front half
• Rib: Medium silver oval tinsel
• Hackle: Black schlappen, palmered through the dubbing
• Collar: Black mallard flank, 2 turns, folded back
• Head: Black thread, small

How to fish it: Cast across and slightly down on a sink tip, mend once, and let it swing. Steelhead grab on the dangle more than you’d think, so let it hang a few seconds before you strip. Low light, dirty water, dawn and dusk.

Recipe 2: Black Flank-Leg Stonefly

• Hook: 3x long nymph hook, #6–#10
• Bead: Black tungsten, sized to hook
• Weight: 10–12 wraps of lead-free wire behind the bead
• Tail: Black mallard flank fibers, split
• Abdomen: Black chenille or stretch tubing
• Wing case: Black Thin Skin, folded twice
• Legs: Black mallard flank fibers, three per side
• Thorax: Black rabbit dubbing, picked out

How to fish it: Dead drift it deep under an indicator in fast riffles and pocket water. Stoneflies crawl along the bottom, so if you’re not ticking rocks, add weight. In Montana this is a pre-salmonfly hatch staple from April on.