Streamer wing

[kraz]

I have been tying flies for a while. I want to tye some Grey ghosts for spring fishing here in the northeast. The problem I am having is finding, for lack of better words, "good feathers". My access to fly tying material is limited. I read in a post some where that Ewing has some good saddles, but I have been unable to find any in a light grey color. Or does anyone have any other recommendations.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kraz

[Crotalus]

I have tied some with Marabou feathers

[RonMT]

Whiting has capes just for streamers. I use them and they are great.
My I also suggest a few hints in tying streamers and getting the wing to stay on top of the body.
First I use 4 hackles for each wing, two to a side. You need that many to get a good full wing. After you get the body done foarm a small area with the thread were the wing will be mounted. Now take a pair of smooth jawed pliers and flatten the area were the wing will be tied in. This will keep the outer feather of the wing from rolling of to the sides. (Yes you can mount a wing without doing this but it is much easier if you take this step) Next take your 4 feathers and get them ready for mounting on the hook by matching two feather to a side and the the inside curve of the feathers to each other thus foraming a 4 feathered wing.
Now when you go to mount the wing on top of the hook in the prepaired area. Hold the 4 featers as they will be mounted on the hook, crimp the 4 hackle stem's with your thumb nail so they are "UP" in the air a bit were you will be tying them in. Do this right in front of the wing on the bare stem's. I use my thumb nail to do this. Again this will help the wing tie in easier and prevent the wing from wanting to roll to the side or separate. I hope you underatnd this.
Again it is much easier to show a person than explain things. If you do not understand just let me know and I will try and help. Ron

[Mark Vendon]

Hi kraz,

What RonMT is referring to is Whiting's American Rooster Capes. The color that you want is their dyed medium dun. They used to have a grading system for these just like their dry fly grades but, I guess they are getting away from that now.
If your not planning on tying tons of these, or don't want to spend that much for one cape, you could buy strung hackle. I mention this because it comes in a better color for that streamer. It's the same color wing as what's on the cover of David Klausmeyers book on streamers with that pattern on it. The only problem is getting the right length. If your tying size 2 streamers the longer ones are fine but, if your tying 6, 8, or 10's, you want the shorter length which many places don't carry much of. I believe the color is Shad Gray. I got mine from Alvin Therault's shop in Maine, and he carries lots of both sizes. There are many feathers in the bunch that aren't any good for streamer wings but, still plenty enough for quite a few streamers.
Duane Vigue ties some of the best feather streamers out there and ties his Gray Ghost top style too like RonMT mentioned. Here's a link to his step by step instructions for that pattern. He uses Whiting American Rooster capes too.

http://www.maineflyfish.com/flytying/gr ... _ghost.htm

Regards,

Mark

[Bamboozle]

May I also suggest a few hints in tying streamers and getting the wing to stay on top of the body...Ron

Ron:

THANKS for helping me resolve one of my personal tying nightmares! Now I can put those 10X long streamer hooks to some good use!

[kraz]

Thanks for the help/information. I have tried buying te strung saddles and just have not been happy with the results. I will investigate the Whiting capes.

Kraz

[Donald Nicolson]

One idea you can try, if you can get good white feathers, try using a Pentel pen or one of the other manufacturers. I have been experimenting with hen feathers for traditional North Country wet flies and I have bought a range of six shades of grey from one manufacturer. I'm not too keen on dyeing necks or saddles and this has worked well for me for small batches of flies. They also have a good range of olives, yellows and browns. Whether this is suitable for streamer feathers I am not so sure but it is worth a try.