Trouble with Teal.

[Gander]

I have had long standing problems getting a decent wing out of teal. I don't know what it is, but it never looks like it should. I am OK with the folding and can turn out a passable Mallard wing. It is Stan Headley, in this months FF&FT, that has reminded me of this ongoing shortcoming in my abilities (it has to be said that Teal winging is not alone on the shortcomings list). There in his Loch Leven article (I felt for you when you lost the big one Stan) is a picture of a Teal winged Butcher with a lovely defined Teal wing. I have tried Teal from several reputable sources, but I always end up with a blurry, greyish barred effort rather than the sharply defined black bars of the flies picture in Stan's article and in many other publications.

What am I doing wrong,
Frustrated fae Fife

You need to shoot your own.


The best barred teal always comes from an older drake teal.

The softer feathers will be from younger teal; they could even be from wigeon, a much more plentiful duck.


NB. I prefer wigeon for dressing sea trout flies


PiB

[IanD]

Originally Posted by Puss in Boots

NB. I prefer wigeon for dressing sea trout flies


PiB

I prefer wigeon for most flies now, simply because good quality teal is so hard to get.

[Gander]

Originally Posted by IanD

I prefer wigeon for most flies now, simply because good quality teal is so hard to get.

So does the Widgeon have a more distinct barring than Teal?

Originally Posted by Gander

So does the Widgeon have a more distinct barring than Teal?

No; nothing beats the 'barring' and 'contrast' of really good teal, if that's what you want. Wigeon being more subtle and sometimes exhibiting a slightly brown 'cast' to the colouration; but this is sometimes preferable.

A drake pintail is also a good substitute for teal, but the 'barring' effect is finer.


PiB

[scotfly]

Gander,
Teal is undoubtedly the best if you're looking for barring and contrast.
Next time you order teal get it from cookshill and ask for the XL.. http://www.cookshill-flytying.co.uk/p7duck.htm

When you use it try to handle it as little as possible.
See here for a sbs of the Teal Winged Butcher This one is tied using Gadwall, but the process is exactly the same for teal.

[kjackson]

Out of curiousity, is the European wigeon (hate that spelling) lighter on its flanks--or at least light enough to substitute for teal, mallard and pintail? The wigeon we have here have flanks that are almost cocoa in color with fine, black barring. The feathers are closer to bronze mallard than to teal flank.

[IanD]

The European Wigeon has light flank feathers, barred in very similar way to mallard and teal, but the barring is not as contrasty as in a good teal feather, but is nearer to teal than the mallard.
They have brown breast feathers, so there's a graduation in colour as one area merges into the other, and some 'flank' feathers have a brownish tinge.
The best are very good though, and the black/grey contrast is very well defined.

[Gander]

Originally Posted by scotfly

Gander,
Teal is undoubtedly the best if you're looking for barring and contrast.
Next time you order teal get it from cookshill and ask for the XL.. http://www.cookshill-flytying.co.uk/p7duck.htm

Problem solved today I think. I picked up a bag of good looking Teal from Cookshill at the Kelso fair.

[Gander]

Originally Posted by IanD

The European Wigeon has light flank feathers, barred in very similar way to mallard and teal, but the barring is not as contrasty as in a good teal feather, but is nearer to teal than the mallard.
They have brown breast feathers, so there's a graduation in colour as one area merges into the other, and some 'flank' feathers have a brownish tinge.
The best are very good though, and the black/grey contrast is very well defined.

I had the opportunity to compare some Teal against Wigeon today at the Kelso fair. The Wigeon had good definition with nice dark bars, but the bars were much finer than the Teal. I am going to try out the Teal I got there on a few patterns, then maybe try a few variations with Wigeon, just to see if it makes any difference.

Thanks to all for the input.