peacock

[mudflaper]

are peacock feathers any good for tying and if so do you need to pephare them

[TyroneFly]

They are an excellent feather for use in tying. The swords can be used in place of chennile (sp?). You can also strip the sword of its fiber and use the quills for body material. I am sure others will add to this and the list will amaze you of the uses of peacock feathers in tying.

[Flyandtie1]

Peacock is excellent. Its "fish catching qualities" are awesome. ( with the right presentation among other things of course.)

Not to confuse anything, but lately, I have been substituting Peacock Ice Dub for peacock herl. Its "fish catching qualities" seem to be the same and it is much more durable.

Lastly, Beware, Peacock not only catches the eyes of fish...It also catches fisherman.

[ducksterman]

Good post ,Chris....

I'm liking Ice Dub [in all colors] more and more....

mudflaper...some folks...make that ...a lot of folks think peacock is magical....

I would recommend you stroke the feather ..."against the grain"....to make the barbules stand out....gives a fuller wrap

[Clarkii]

funny thing-when i was tyin' up some PTs today i was thinking how unfortunate it would be not to have peacock for a material- if it did not exist...

it's just great stuff!

i also agree w/ Flyandtie1- the peacock ice dub is very good also- i prefer the darker one- i think they call it black peacock ice dub.

, Clarkii.

[Eight Thumbs]

Fly bodies, wet and dry, made from peacock eye feather herl (unstripped) have a natural iridescence that just can't be beat by any other material. Six to twelve herl fibers from eye or sword feathers also make a wonderful wing topping for most steamers. It's been used for hundreds of years and is still an outstanding material. Oh, lets not forget the Coachman and the Royal Coachman. Wonderful, Wonderful Stuff. 8T

[ducksterman]

I wish it wasn't so fragile.

[herefishy]

Along the lines of quality of peacock, does it always look worse after it gets wet, or should I replace mine? It looks matted and kind of dull, although it looks fine in the package.

[rainbowchaser]

mudflaper If you have access to peacocks I assume you are mostly going to get shed feathers. Pick up all of the tail feathers you can. The eyed feathers are the ones everyone is talking about. The herl for bodies is the part below the eye. The eye portion is used to top streamers and stripped for quill bodies. Also pick up the bright green sword feathers (Google a picture of these) and the secondary wing quill feathers. Try to match up the secondary quills in pairs from opposite sides. Wash the feathers if needed and allow to dry while laid flat and then store in zip lock bags for the smaller ones. The large tail feathers make a nice decoration in a vase until you are ready to begin plucking one or you can cut them to fit in a bag. As a rule the more mature birds will have the best feathers.

[Eight Thumbs]

I always counter wrap my herl bodies with fine gold wire and they seem to stay together reasonably well. I'm not saying that I don't get a broken piece of herl sticking out at an odd angle every once in a while, particularly after a few fish, but I just view it as the fly becoming a cripple or an emerger. Remember that they aren't perfect in nature either! 8T