Goose and turkey biots are commonly used materials in fly tying. They are typically found in nymph flies where they are used as tails and in stonefly imitation patterns where they are used as antennae.
If you are just getting started in fly tying, it is important to learn how to use goose or turkey biots properly as they are used many flies. In this article, I will cover what biots are and how you can use them in your fly tying.
What is a Goose or Turkey Biot?
A biot is a tapered fiber from the wing feather of a goose or turkey. In fly tying, biots are used to imitate various parts of an insect including the body, antennae, wings as well as the tail. Although biots are sold in a variety of different colors. The most used colors of biot are natural, black, claret and olive.
How to Use Biots in Fly Tying
In fly tying, biots can be using in several different ways, they can be used for adding tails and wing casings to nymphs as well as for creating the body and antennae of a fly pattern. Below, I will explain how you can use them to tie each part of the anatomy of your fly.
Preparing Biots
Biots are stiff which makes them difficult to work with.
To make biots easier to use in fly tying, I recommend wetting two paper towels and putting your biots in between them and leaving them to soak. After leaving the biots to soak for a while, they will be ready to use.
Using Biots For Tails
Goose and Turkey biots have a natural curve which makes them an ideal material for tying flies. As there are various ways to use biots, it can be difficult to use them to tie flies if you do not have much experience. Below, I will cover how to use biots in the tying of the different parts of the fly.
Outwardly Facing Curved Biots
Biots are often used to tie tails in flies. They are tied so the biots curve outward from the body of the fly.
To tie a nymph tail with outward curving biots, remove a pair of biots from the quill. Then take one of the biots and turn it so it is back-to-back with the other biot and facing the opposite direction.
The two biots should be curved away from each other. Align the tips of the biots to ensure the tail of the fly with be even.
With your non-dominant hand, the one you do not use for holding your bobbin holder, pinch the biots between your thumb and index finger. Leave the thicker ends of the biots exposed, the end that was closest to the quill, to make it easier to tie.
Tie in the biots to the hook with a couple of pinching loops to secure it to the hook.
Upwardly Facing Curved Biots
In larger flies, you often see the tail of a fly using upward facing biots.
To make an upward biot tail, remove two biots from the quill and place them on the palm of your dominant hand, the hand you used to hold the bobbin holder, both biots should be facing upwards.
Place the biots over one another so they are crossed.
Pinch the biots between your thumb and index finger of your non-dominant hand, place the crossed biots on the hook shank and tie them in with thread.
Tying upward facing biots can be difficult as the biots have a tendency to fall off the hook as your tie them in. Be patient and keep trying until you get it right.
Using Biots For a Fly Body
Although you can get away with using dry biots for tying flies, I prefer to soak my biots to make them easier to work with. This is especially the case when tying biots on the body of a fly as biots are brittle and can be difficult to use.
Biots are great for creating the body of the fly as you can use them to create both smooth and segmented fly bodies. You can change the positioning of the biot to create a smooth or segmented body.
To create a smooth or segmented body, you will first have to familiarize yourself with the shape of a biot. Take a close look at a biot. You will notice that a biot has a slight curve from one edge to the other.
If you want to create a segmented body for your fly using a biot, tie the tip of the biot to the hook shank. The ridges of the biot should be pointing upwards. These ridges on the biot will give your fly a segmented look.
If you want your fly’s body to look smoother, you can tie the biot to the hook shank with the ridges facing down. This will cause the ridges of the hook to be hidden and prevent the body of the fly from looking segmented.
Using Biots for Wings
Goose and Turkey biots can also be used to tie the wings and wing casings of flies.
To using biots for wing casings of flies, remove two biots from the quill, and lay them flat in the palm of your dominant hand so the tips of the biots curve down into your palm.
Place one of the biots over the other so they are crossed. Tie in your biots and secure them with a couple of thread wraps.
Using Biots For Antennae
Tying biots to imitate the antennae of an insect is the same as using biots to create the fly’s tail. Instead of tying the biots at the back of the hook, you will be tying them at the front off the hook. You can tie the biots upward, downward, or outward to better imitate the insect you want to represent with your fly.
Be careful not to cover the eye of the hook as it is easy to do so when using biots as antennae.
Where to Get Goose Biots
Every fly tier should have a supply of goose or turkey biots in their materials to tie nymphs and other insect imitation patterns.
Buying Goose or Turkey Biots
You can buy biots online or at your local fly tying store. They will have any different colors of biots for you to choose from.
How to Harvest Your Own Biots for Fly Tying
If you have access to goose or turkey wings, you can try your hand at harvesting your own biots. Although biots are not expensive, harvesting your own is an easy and cheaper way to get biots than buying them online at fly store.
To harvest biots, find the long and stiff fibers on the feather. Cut or gently pull them out from the quill. Be careful not to squash the edges of the fibers between your fingers.
If you harvest your own biots you can dye them at home. An advantage to dying your own biots is that you can dye your own biots to have the exact color you want to use rather than relying on the colors available to purchase. Having said this, there are many colors of biots available and you are likely to find the color you need available to purchase.