breadcrust

[GenCon]

The other day, Mike Richardson did a post about using grouse feathers. I mentioned the bread crust. It is done by taking a grouse tail feather and spliting it down the middle. Then soak well in water or it will split for sure. Also trimming the feather barbs close to the stem. I cut them to about 1/8'' then trim them as need once applied to the hook. Then adding your hackle. Here I used hen grizzly. Partridge also works very well. This fly was one of my Dads favorite wet flies. It does catch fish. This one is for you Dad.

GenCon

 

[J55tyger88]

thats a very cool fly. I like how its segmented with the split quill and cut barbs. How long do you soak them in water?

 

[StarvinMarvin]

Wow, that's wicked.

 

[lv2nymph]

Another cool looking tie Michael, that just screams cased caddis! Nicely done.

 

[SBecker]

Yea I would tie in 2 threads of chartreuse floss out the front or back.

 

[blueheron]

Another Pocono favorite, I don't leave home without it. Nice tie

 

[beadhead2]

Great tie Mike
Your dad has a big smile on his face !!!!!!!!!

 

[GenCon]

Thanks guys, Tyger I soak the quill for at least an hour. For they are very stiff. Maybe we will tie one or two the next time you come over.

GenCon

 

[CathyG]

Very nice tie. I find them to be a real PIA to prepare the quill.

I first learned about them from an old gent on the Dyberry here in Wayne county. We struck up a conversation and he asked me if I had ever heard of the breadcrust. He told me what a great fly it was and apologized that he didn't have one to give me. I looked it up and tied a few but I think I destroyed more quills than I could use to tie.

But those fine examples have inspired me to try again. I have 6 quills soaking right now.

 

[J55tyger88]

Mike,
Id like to give this fly a try. I feel like splitting the quill will be tricky...

 

[afishinado]

Back in the day, the Breadcrust was my go-to fly for fishing trout in NE PA where I grew up. The fly fished well, was easy to tie and I hunted grouse and had plenty of "free" tails to tie with at the time.

Here is a little history and a great tutorial for tying the pattern:

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/082806fotw.php

 

[Stenonema]

Guys, I gotta say thanks. I remember reading of this pattern in a Joe Brooks book. Great pattern, great history can't wait to try it. I got some quills soaking now.

 

[tctrout]

Thanks for sharing this great pattern; I love the "old ones" that hopefully guys forget about!

TC

 

[beadhead2]

Here is a good Breadcrust variant
mms://69.166.45.60/MMR/KWSUMedia/FlyTying/ftaa223.wmv

 

[TYoung]

That fly would make a great cased caddis imitation.

 

[Festus]

The Breadcrust is a fantastic pattern. Especially in the Poconos. I tie quite a few using all kinds of quills. Don't limit yourself to grouse. I'm always looking for tailfeathers and wing quills of all types to experiment with. I save all of my used duck wing quills for these patterns. I store all of these quills in a mason jar filled with water and they are super soft when the time comes to use them.

One trick that I have learned to split them is a real timesaver and makes the task a lot easier. Simply insert a single edged razor blade in a vice, and run the quill down over it. Very easy but be careful.

Back in the 70s, there was a commercial tier from the Bethlehem area named George Kovacs. George was an excellent tier and had a killer pattern hat he called the Ashey Pale that was a killer on the Pocono streams. It was a simple pattern to tie, using grouse for the body and a gray partridge hackle that had been dyed dark dun. I don't have much luck with it outside of the Poconos, but it is the go to fly for me when I am fishing the Big Bushkill. You can also utilize mallard wing quill for this pattern and it is equally effective.

 

[mario66pens]

GeoCon, that fly is brilliant, thanks for sharing! I have never seen this pattern before, it looks like a killer.

 

[FrequentTyer]

beadhead2 wrote:
Here is a good Breadcrust variant
mms://69.166.45.60/MMR/KWSUMedia/FlyTying/ftaa223.wmv

That looks similar to the pattern from Solomon and Leiser's The Caddis and the Angler. However, the S&L pattern was ribbed with a stripped hackle quill. It's one of the first patterns I learned to tie. The local variant in this post is very interesting.
Mike.

 

[StarvinMarvin]

I can't get the above link to work.

 

[FrequentTyer]

StarvinMarvin wrote:
I can't get the above link to work.

Try this link