FLYMPH FORUM

I've tied this pattern using porcupine guardhairs for years. Anyway, this year I tried something new and it just didn't work. I usually tie flies in sets of ten with a couple left over that didn't meet the standard, then pic the best of the batch and set it to the side. This year I tried to tie the Pork and Hen pattern using the wrap down and then rib back up with the body material, but it didn't work. I got one, but all the others bodies were inconsistent and some just sloppy, so I ended up tying a batch of the regular pattern, and kept the best one of each set . Here is the one rib version that worked, a solution for the one that didn't work (smiley) and the typical pattern.







I just turned them into nymph patterns. I still need to add a cap of epoxy on the wing pad, but I think these are still usable.





w

OK now THAT is amazing! I've not tried porcupine yet. Did you get that in a fly shop or harvest it yourself?



Vicki

Thanks. Yes, plucked it myself, in the rain, in March about 8 years ago on a backroad in PA. I found it in the road after it had just been hit. I had just started tying and didn't know if I could use them, but you know that crazy feeling you get when you first start tying...everything looks like potential. You take your kids to the petting zoo even if they don't want to go (smiley). So I knew the short white quills were used in a historic dry pattern, but when I saw the guardhairs...I sat there in the rain for about an hour plucking that thing with a pair of small pliers I happened to have. Nothing on that beast came off easy. It was a struggle and he must have weighed about 40 pounds, and you sure couldn't touch him. It was a delicate and foolish moment, but I love having these hairs. I have everything from light tan to very dark gray. I washed and washed and sorted these things for several hours and loved every minute of it. Now when I get a few out to tie I see the supply dwindle, and I can't imagine restocking, so it is special to take fish with one. The body is very durable, but really waxy, thus all the slippage, even after the fly is hackled. That was the problem. I could superglue them for a rib, but it just doesn't seem right, so I'll just stick with the original pattern from now on.

Here is a light version.



w

Bill,

Are those the guard hairs (very long and thin, actual hair) or the quills (thicker, white, waxy and very sharp on one end). If your harvesting the quills try throwing an old blanket on the beasty. A lot of the quills will come off when you remove the blanket. Then you just remove them from the blanket. If you intend to use the blanket to stay warm again, make sure you get all the quills out of it. Failue to do so usualloy results in a quill in very bad places.

Add a little vinegar to the wash water to get rid of the waxy coating. Once you do, air dry them, turning often so they don't mildew.

REE

Guess I need to keep some pliers in my car from now on! We don't see very many porkers on the road here. I did see a muskrat in good condition on my way to work though.


Vicki

I think I would tie on the "light version" around March 1st around here and not clip it off until late November.

I'm sorry now that I was never able to scavenge a porcupine while I was at PSU--my wife will wonder why I'm driving the back roads the next time we visit her folks in Wilkes-Barre.

Very cool flies.........really nice. i've harvested different things from the middle of the road, but never Pocupine. Another thing that makes great bodies is Peccory (wild Boar) quills.....(gaurd hairs)..........i guess they're actually quills, because there is no underfur that i know of. They have great segmentation. An old tyer named Allan Podell used to dye and sell them. He called then Specially Dyed because after he finished with them they were water proff, and great for dry flies. i still have some, "somewhere."

Allen Podell piped in back all those years go on the flyfisherman board when I first harvested the batch and asked what the hell to do with them, how to clean them and if there was a way to lighten them. They were all dark to med gray when I plucked em. I had to work it out for myself (3 days in a 60% peroxide solution, or longer depending on what you want to achieve.) Allen was nice enough to send me an assorment of the peccary, and I aquired some natural peccary from the fly shop in Carlisle, PA. The guard hairs tie a lot like those peccary quills or somewhat like moose mane. The vinegar idea is a good one to remove the wax and not change the color. I don't think I'll mess with the few that I have left. Yes I will. (knowing grin).

You can purchase porcupine guard hairs around, but they are usually bleached, or kind of thin and wimpy. Those are from the west coast. Out East coast porkies are really dark and burly.

w

CB, that's hilarious. You know I've got my eyes peeled when I'm on the back country in that area. Not that I would kill one. Or touch one that's been dead for more than a few minutes. It was opportunity I really dont expect to have again. You want to hear something funny. I plucked quills for about 30 minutes in very cold rain, very happy with myself, got in my truck and drove down the road. Then it hit me. I did a big u-turn and spent another half hour out there, just greedy and very embarrassed. No one saw me, but I didn't want to explain to anyone what I was doing. In hindsite, I should have grabbed that thing, but I didn't know if it was legal, and I sure didn't want to explain to my in-laws (we were visiting my wife's family) why I was dragging home a dead porcupine. Anyway. I hope you get an opportunity. Bring gloves.

Ron, I dont see how that Blanket trick would work. I dont doubt you, but I had to pull like a mad man to get those things out. It was surprisingly laborious. I know they will release quills when threatened, but would a deceased animal let go so easy? If you have any thing similar, send me a pm. I forgot those base quills have very fine barbs...that don't let go. That makes sense. But they were still a task at the time.

I did get a bunch of the sharp quills. If you know of a good use for them, I'd love to hear it, and I can send you some.

Where is Allen Podell? That guy was a tremendous resource and a real gent. I wish he were a soft-hackle guy, he would make a great addition here.

w

William - Remarkable set of flies. There is a company in Niagara Falls New York that sells all sorts of furs, skins, etc. They sell a range of porcupine quills in a range of sizes. They told me the best quills were used for Native American crafts and French & Indian reenactors. I visited their store two years ago and purchased a full skunk skin (excellent polar bear sub). Any way, if you run out of quills you may be able to get more from this company.

http://www.chichesterinc.com/index.htm

Here is their link to the porcupine quills:
http://www.chichesterinc.com/PorcupineQuillsandHair.htm

Wow, this stuff is expensive!