Mearns Quail beadhead nymph

A couple of posts ago I reported on staying home from work to tie a few flies. I had tied a dozen beadhead nymphs days before with a Hungarian Partridge skin, and wrote about that here. The morning I played hooky, I wanted to tie a dozen smaller nymphs.

I chose a Mearns Quail skin.  It is smaller than a Hungarian Partridge, or at least this sample of a hen skin is. Both are called "upland birds", and have a similar feather structure. All I needed was one or two of these smaller feathers to tie a nice fly on a size 12 2xl hook.  The results varied somewhat depending on the size of each feather, and depending on whether I tied with or without a tail. The hook used was a size 12 Mustad 72R.

Use the same tying technique as described in the Partridge beadhead nymph step-by-step procedure here.

The Mearns quail rump feathers are perfect for a size 12 2xl hook,
like the Mustad 72R.  I used one feather for the one on the left.
I used two feathers (tip 1/2 only) to make the one on the right.

Hungarian Partridge Beadhead Nymph: Two variations

The Hungarian Partridge nymph post from the other day represents a tried-and-true recipe I have been using for perhaps four or five years.  However, after about a dozen flies, my mind begins to wander and I start substituting materials "just for fun".  After tying a bunch with the original instructions, I tied up a bunch that looked like these two:

Two Beads

The two beads go onto the hook first.
The first feather creates the tail and abdomen.
I then pull the glass bead up tight against the abdomen and tie off the thread.
Then tie in the thread between the two beads and do the
dubbing loop thing with the second feather to create the thorax and legs.

Less the Tail 

A tailess variation. Tied the same as the original instructions except that the first
feather is tied with the tip pointing toward the bead

I have not tried either one of the variations in the water.  But I have no doubt that they will work nicely.

I am thinking of tying a batch with a glass beadhead only.  They might be nice when I don't want the fly to sink as far as it would with a metal beadhead.

I just had to go to work late today

I had fully intended to put in a full day at work today.  But when I got up this morning, it was just too nice a day.  We'd had a couple of hot and humid days (for May, not if it were August) and I really get bummed out by heat and humidity.  But last night thunder boomers came through plus a little rain.  Some towns got 2" balls of hail.  That, of course, is really nothing to complain about when you see the flood devastation going on in Texas.

As the storm front passed through last night, cool air followed.  The AC was turned off and all the windows were opened.  The result: glorious 70F air this morning and a dew point below 60.  We live near wetlands, and everything smelled so nice and damp.  I could even smell the earth.  The irises popped open.  Our screen porch was delightful.  The birds were churping.  The coffee tasted great.  And I didn't have to be at work until 11a!

Ah, what a morning.

After I finished my coffee on the screen porch, I just couldn't find the gumption to get ready for work.  I decided another cup of strong coffee was in order and I sat down at my tying desk and tied up a few nymphs,while slurping on a cup of bold joe.  Then I tied a few more....  Then a few more.  I used the pattern I posted the other day here.  But today I went with a smaller hook (size 12 Mustad 72R 2xl), smaller bead and a smaller upland bird pelt.  I used a beautiful "Mearns quail hen" skin.

Mearns quail hen

The rump feathers are a pinkish tan color.  When tying in the feather tip ever so slightly, which I did in the sample shown in the vise below, there is generally enough feather "rope" to cover the shank with just one feather, finishing off with the fluffy stuff behind the beadhead.

Size 12 Mustad 72R hook.
Tied with one twisted feather and one glass bead.

A nice way to spend Friday morning.
And I still got to the office in time for my 11a meeting!
(No I'm not at Starbucks in Banff. The mug is a souvenir from a trip three years ago.)

Hungarian Partridge Nymph

During recent years many of my nymphs and buggers have been made entirely from one or two soft hackle feathers, usually marabou type feathers from Turkey, Quail and Partridge. They are made with a conehead or beadhead, and the fish gobble them up.

Here are a couple of links to other flies I have constructed with these feathers and for which I have previously provided step by step instructions:

Conehead Combo

One-feather Fly

The Hungarian Partridge Nymph

The Hungarian Partridge Nymph is made along the lines of the one-feather fly, except that I am using two feathers.  Partridge feathers are nicely sized for the hook I am tying with in the step by step pictures below, a Tiemco #5263 size 10.

The first feather serves as a tail and abdomen.  The second feather serves as a thorax and a bunch of legs, and is applied with a dubbing loop.

The best feathers for the tail and abdomen are the ones with long fibers that point toward the tip of feather.  When you tie the tip onto the shank, you capture a good percentage of the barbs. If you have an entire partridge skin, the best feathers for this will be flank feathers, and not feathers from the neck, saddle, or back.

Below are the two feathers that I used in constructing the fly below. See how the barbs are angled toward the tip?

Here are the tying steps I use:

Prepare the hook shank in the usual way.
Used here: Size 10 TMC 5263 
Beadhead dimension is 5/32 inch

Tie in one partridge feather.

Twist the feather to make a rope.
Wrap the rope about 2/3 up the shank to create an abdomen.
Tie down and snip off excess

You may wish to trim off some of the barbs.
However, it may fish even better if left long.

Create a dubbing loop

Insert second feather into dubbing loop.
Trim off the stem and right side of the feather with scissors.
Notice that the feather is positioned so the "fluffy" fibers
will be applied to the shank last, and will appear behind the bead.

This is what the trimmed off piece looks like.

Spin the dubbing loop. A few more spins and the fibers
positioned at the top will split away from each other.

After the dubbing loop has been wrapped around the shank
you'll have this nice mix of soft hackles and fluff.
Also, this will be a very durable fly.