The grizzly feathers twist horribly no matter the base, be it bare hook, dubbing or parachute post. I have tried everything. Hackle pliers, stripping one side, "pre bending",twisting the opposite direction while wrapping, pre soaking, none of the feathers wrap worth a s***. (Sorry)

The furnace hackle is better, some of the smaller feathers are better, but still a pain.


My other necks and packaged feathers are fine. Problem is the grizzly and furnace are the two colors I use most.

Other then actually tying a fly with a feather from the neck, how does one make sure , before you buy it, that the feathers are not going to twist like this?



Quote Originally Posted by Hans Weilenmann View Post
SCG,

Those necks can be a real pain, and a big disappointment when having shelled out serious money for a quality (debatable in this case) genetic neck.

If the stems of the hackles do not play ball, it may be time to change the pitch.

On a hard surface, even a level hard surface, they may (will) flip and end up as you described.

Try a slender bed of a softer material, such as a skinny layer of dubbing, and you may find these feathers behaving much nicer.

Cheers,
Hans W