The term Bronze Mallard defines the flank feathers of the Mallard Duck. These feathers have a typical very fine mottle with shades ranging from reddish brown on the tips to off-white on the base and are used in the tying of a multitude of classic and modern dressings. Indispensable for the lovers of classic flies, sections of Bronze Mallard have always been used in the creation of simple or built wings of salmon flies from every region, both of the British, North American or French tradition.
Sections of bronze mallard form the so-called Roof of almost all full dressed flies of the Victorian period but can also be used to form the complete wing of various salmon flies, such as the famous Thunder & Lightning. These feathers also find application on many models of wet flies to create wings and tails and almost all authors from Charles Cotton to the present day describe their use.
Their mottling makes them unique to represent the tails of large and small mayflies and combining them with hare hair, natural silk and partridge feathers, beautiful imitations of March Brown are created. Tufts of Bronze Mallard have also been used to form wings in dry flies of the American Catskill tradition, for example on Atherton no. 6.