Wood Duck Mallard Flank

Wood Duck Mallard Flank Feathers

Real wood duck flank costs about what a guide trip does, and half the pack is too small to use. This is mallard flank dyed that same lemon-bronze color. It ties the same classic Catskill wings, the same tails, the same legs, and it won’t make you cry when you pull the bag out. The old masters would have used it if they’d had it.

What you get: About 60 feathers in a 2 gram bag, mixed sizes. Plenty of dry-fly wing sizes. Junk pulled by hand.

Recipe 1: Light Cahill

• Hook: Standard dry fly, #12–#16
• Thread: Cream or light yellow 8/0
• Wing: Wood Duck mallard flank, upright and divided
• Tail: Light ginger hackle fibers
• Body: Cream or light Cahill dubbing
• Hackle: Light ginger, wound in front of and behind the wing

How to fish it: Summer evenings when the pale mayflies come off. Fish it dead drift on 5x in the flat water below riffles. It’s easy to see in low light, which matters when the fish start eating at 9:30 at night. Classic fly. Still works. Imagine that.

Recipe 2: Quill Gordon

• Hook: Standard dry fly, #12–#14
• Thread: Gray 8/0
• Wing: Wood Duck mallard flank, upright and divided
• Tail: Medium dun hackle fibers
• Body: Stripped peacock quill, coated with thin head cement
• Hackle: Medium dun, 2–3 turns each side of the wing

How to fish it: One of the first mayflies of spring. Fish it on cool April and May afternoons in riffles and runs. Fish are hungry and not picky yet. Dead drift it, and if nothing rises, drop a pheasant tail 18 inches off the bend.