Biots come from the leading edge of flight feathers. Goose Biots come from ...? Answers on a postcard, please. Or, indeed, the FF&FT Forum.

Time was when biots had a very small number of tying applications. I’d use them for tails on stonefly nymphs and Prince Nymphs, and that was about it. More recently, brightly dyed biots appeared as the cheeks of flies; it’s fair to say I think that they were a cheaper and more available alternative to jungle cock cheeks.

Goose biots are stiff barbs, they taper dramatically: wide where they meet the stem to a sharp point at the tip. The surface of a biot barb may appear flat and straight but is actually curved and ‘dished’, I’d guess that adds to its stiffness. These leading edge feathers are ‘designed’ to be tough and water resistant. That toughness is an attractive quality, but for dyeing a material which doesn’t easily absorb water it makes life interesting! So, look at a strip of dyed biots and you see the outer edge, the dyed colour is inevitably deepest there. Bend the strip and you can quickly tell if the dye has taken on the surface of the barb. I expect the surface to be lighter than the edge, but I do expect it to be coloured. Goose biots from domestic geese are naturally white, so if the surface of the barbs is white the dye didn’t penetrate.

These are dyed. I have seen deeper colour on the surfaces of dyed biot barbs, but these are dyed nicely. The net effect of the character of the biots and the way dye fixes is that dyed biots have dark edges and lighter centres. Used as cheeks that colour variation looks the part. Wind it around a hook and it gives a banded effect, imitating segmentation; an effect we imitative fly tyers love.

I have had biots which broke or split when wound around a hook, so I like to check that the barbs can bend without breaking and can be tied in without the thread cutting through – these pass those tests.

The selection of Flybox Goose Biots are all dyed bright fluorescent colours (Sunburst, Fluo Red, Sunburst Flame, Sunburst Yellow) ideal for those bright wee ‘aiming spot’ cheeks on lures, buzzers, and modern wet fly patterns. I’m thinking competition fishing, but these are useful for more than that.