Got a bunch of ducks today

A buddy gave me a bunch of ducks and a Ross' goose today. Said I could have them if I wanted to pluck and clean them...uhh, yeah!! So I have the flanks from 2 sprig, 2 widgeon, 5 g/w teal, and one cinnamon teal. I have the CDC from all of the above, with the addition of the goose and a female teal.

As I plucked the birds, I realize that the spotty breast of the g/w teal would make excellet cheeks on hornbergs, etc. a la jungle cock. Anyone ever do this? Should I run some glue along it for toughness?

I also loved the cinnamon flank of the cinn. teal. I think it would make nice wings, and tails of nymphs.

Thanks for the info.

MAO

You have enough feathers there to tie a bunch of flies. Of course the Pintail flank can be used in lieu of mallard flank, likewise the Drake GW Teal. The widgeon flank makes good looking flies as well.

I got a Ross Goose about 5 years ago. I plucked it and saved the feathers. I dye a few of them now and then to tie various flies, usually steamers. Left white they can be uses as wings of steamers.

I take the belly feathers from the drake GW Teal and use the m as a single feather wing laid flat along the back of the fly. I usually use two feathers one on top of the other as it improves visibity of the angler. You can also use the breast feathers in the same way.

I tried the GW Teal as a Hornberg and have caught quite a few brookies and panfish on it.

In short - let your imagination run wild. Have fun.

Tim

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...alHornberg.jpg

Mao - forgot to say that there is a fly called a jassid . You could use the GW Teal in lieu of Jungle Cock.

Tim

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Panman

You have enough feathers there to tie a bunch of flies. Of course the Pintail flank can be used in lieu of mallard flank, likewise the Drake GW Teal. The widgeon flank makes good looking flies as well.

I got a Ross Goose about 5 years ago. I plucked it and saved the feathers. I dye a few of them now and then to tie various flies, usually steamers. Left white they can be uses as wings of steamers.

I take the belly feathers from the drake GW Teal and use the m as a single feather wing laid flat along the back of the fly. I usually use two feathers one on top of the other as it improves visibity of the angler. You can also use the breast feathers in the same way.

I tried the GW Teal as a Hornberg and have caught quite a few brookies and panfish on it.

In short - let your imagination run wild. Have fun.

Tim

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...alHornberg.jpg

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Cool looking fly, Panman. Do you fish it as a wet fly for trout?

Last Chance: Yes I fish it as a wet fly as I do a Woodduck Hornberg. MAO could substitute Cinnamon Teal or Drake Mallard for the Woodduck.

Tim

If you omit the hackle on those, you would have what we call in New Zealand "Killer Patterns". Partridge dyed olive for sides, with black squirrel tail for the tail, is Hammil's Killer, which is a popular damsel fly pattern. Often a number of feathers are staggered up the shank (2 pairs, one tied a bit forward of the other; or 3 pairs, tied staggered as well, etc) and this can make them a pain to tie. Mallard Killers are popular, and all of the above posted look really good to me. Also, as mentioned by Panman, tying a couple feathers flat along the top is useful (that would be the standard look of a Pukeko fly here, so named because the feathers from a pukeko are typically tied in this way). Anyway, I've tied a green bodied fly with the bronze lower neck feathers from a cock ringneck pheasant in flat on the top (with a small cree hackle and olive mallard flank tail, copper wire rib) and use this as a sort of damsel or water beetle with results.

Also, don't forget that the flank feathers make great rolled wings (tied in as a typical wing). Teal, blue, and silver is still a popular sea trout fly, and I've taken rainbows with it in a sping creek. (tail: golden pheasant tippets; body flat silver mylar, rib oval silver, hackle blue, wing teal flank, rolled). there used to be a whole series of teal flies, like "teal and yellow" or "teal and red", etc, which usually had a brown/ginger/or black hackle (to suit the body colour) and the body colour was in the named colour (i..e green in a teal and green). You could tie these up just using different feathers for the wings to create your own series and experiment to figure out which work best in your waters.

I roll my wings like this:
1) get a section of fibres that is 4 times wider than the wing you want
2) fold both edges in to the centre
3) fold in half.

This results in a 4 layer thick wing. You can make it stiffer by using 2 layers of the feather to get 8 layers.

- Jeff

Along with all the feathers, you've got some dang good eats! Those ducks will all grill up great, and Ross' geese are my absolute favorite goose for tablefare.