Trouble with Teal.

[The Bear]

Gander,
I sometimes substitute teal with bronze mallard in some of the patterns i use ,It works well on the Peter Ross double giving the fly a more dabbler like appearance and a claret hen hackle instead of the ordinary black has worked wonders too

[Highlander]

Teal can be quite a difficult feather to work with. Many "good" tiers have never really got to grips with it myself included. On occasion I have trouble.
Here is a wee Peter Ross variant of mine which I thought at one time to be "noo bad" but the wing lets it down as the barrings do not run into one another & are not symmetrical.
Buying good quality Teal is the best option & I believe that Cookshill will probably be able to help on that score. If you do not use good well marked Teal your are on a hiding to nothing to start with.



The little line drawing from my website shows a much better wing.



Tight Lines

[Gander]

Originally Posted by The Bear

Gander,
I sometimes substitute teal with bronze mallard in some of the patterns i use ,It works well on the Peter Ross double giving the fly a more dabbler like appearance and a claret hen hackle instead of the ordinary black has worked wonders too

Sounds good.

[Amber]

When tying with teal I double up the wing slips so there are 2 slips on top of each other on each side.
As it is thicker it tends to bed down better when tied in and the feather lie more natural with the fibres attached rather than splaying out.
Regards
Amber