GingeRed Quill wetfly (Step-by-step)

Here is a general wetfly concept that has been around for ages, and one can always feel free to change out materials and colors to suite other patterns as well. In my experience, this has been a very effective fly, fished both wet, and dry. The pattern listed is a combination of the two traditional Quill patterns, Red and Ginger Quill. For this article I've chosen a quite heavy hook, but a dryfly hook can also be recommended. Happy tying!

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GingeRed Quill

Hook: Mustad R70 size 14, or other standard wet fly hooks

Thread: Yellow, Cahill or Black Tail: Palest ginger, almost honey dun hackle fibers, 6 at most

Body: Strippet hackle stem from a red rooster Wings: Pale starling Hackle: Palest ginger, almost honey dun, preferably from a soft rooster cape

Everything needed for the fly. A natura red rooster cape, for the body, slips from the starling wing quills will be used for wings, and the bright honey dun/ginger cape will make up the tail and hackle. Hooks and thread can be replaced.

Step 1: The thread

First tie on the thread.

Step 2: The tail

Tie in the tail. For the traditional look, it should extend close to two body-lengths, and be few in fibers; 6 at most, but back in the days it was not uncommon to only use three fibers.

Step 3: Tie in the quill

Strip all fibers of a natural red rooster feather, leaving only the stem. Tie in the stem on the underside of the hook.

Step 4: Tie down the waste ends

Wax the thread and make adjacent wraps of thread foreward about 4/5th up towards the eye of the hook. Make both the waste ends of the quill and tail-fibers reach all the way up the body.

Step 5: Tie in the wing sections

At this point, tie in the sections of starling wing slips. Note that I pull them off the stem, rather than cutting. The wings now look narrow, but they are indeed much compressed.

Step 6: The underbody

Trim of the waste-ends in a tapered fashion, and tie down.

Step 7: Wrap the quill

Now to make the body. Wrap the hackle stem in tight, adjacent turns forward, nearly all the way up to the wing, and tie it off on the underside.

Step 8a: Varnish (optional)

This step is optional, but adding a drop of varnish outside the body will enhance the durability.

Step 8b: Varnish (optional)

Let the varnish dry.

Step 9: Rise the wing

Once the varnish has dried, it's time to rise the wings. Use your left thumb and index finger to force the slips backward and wrap thread up against the tie-in point, in front the wing to add support.

Step 10: Tie in the hackle

Tie in the hackle. As always I will encourage to not strip off the fluff, but rather to trim it off with your scissors; this will also enhance the durability of the fly.

Step 11: Wrap the hackle

I have to admit that I made the hackle slightly more over-dressed than what I would normally prefer, but I have to say that it did add to the traditional look of the fly.

Step 12: Complete the fly

Complete the fly with a few wraps of whip-finish. Varnish the head. I chose the yellow thread for this fly, as I know it will obtain a nice, more dull color once varnished. Other colors for the thread I would recommend would be light cahill, tan, fiery brown or black. Your fly is now done. Tight lines!

This pattern is something that has been developed over a period of about two-hundred years, so I can not take the pride of calling this versions one of my own patterns. It's based upon the two classic trout flies Ginger Quill and Red Quill, but tied in a wetfly style. This pattern has probably been one of very few wetflies you will find me fishing. I do rarely fish with wetflies, but occasionally I will tie one on; simply to spice things up. Sight-fishing with a wetfly upstream can be just as fun as fishing a dry fly, and sometimes even more challenging. However, if tied on a lighter hook, it can produce well as a dryfly too, later in the season. It should still be tied the same way, and both the dry-, and the wet version should be tied with rooster hackle.

The Ginger Quill is an old standard trout fly that dates back to the early Victorian England. I believe that the inventors name was Alfred Ronalds, and has through the years been a dear dryfly pattern for many anglers around the world. The original dressing had stripped peacock quill in the body, but I have had some success with a variation using a stripped hackle stem, from a light natural red rooster.

So, to establish the facts; the pattern listed in this article is a bit of a hybrid, and although the body is taken from the Red Quill, the remaining parts are from the Ginger Quill pattern.

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All photos are taken by me and shall not be used without permission.