Coq de Leon is the tailing material dry fly tyers settle on and stop looking. The fibers are exceptionally stiff and glassy with almost no web, so a tail splays and stays splayed instead of folding into the hook bend after one fish. Twelve feathers per pack, each one carrying the mottled speckling the breed is known for.
Why It Works:
Stiffness is the whole argument. A hackle-fiber tail off an ordinary cape absorbs water and collapses; a Coq de Leon tail holds its angle and keeps a Comparadun or a Catskill dry riding level on the film. The same stiffness is why these have become the default for modern Euro nymph tails — they hold shape through a season of bottom-bouncing. Each pack carries the Asociación Criadores del Gallo de León mark on the bag.
Product Features:
- 12 feathers per pack
- Very stiff, low-web fibers — tails splay and stay splayed
- Natural mottled speckling, undyed
- Dry fly tails, Euro nymph tails, spinner tails and legs
- Breeder-certified stock
Ed's Take:
Light Speckled Pardo is the one to buy first — it is the pale ginger-and-pepper shade that reads as a mayfly tail on almost anything, and it is what we tie Pale Morning Duns and Blue Winged Olives with all season. Barred Speckled Aconchado is darker and more strongly barred, better on larger drakes and on nymphs where you want the tail to show some contrast. A pack lasts a long time at twelve feathers, which takes the sting out of the price.
