Last Sunday morning i caught my first white fish on the Madison in Yellowstone. In act I caught 2, one was about the size in the pictures and one was quite a bit larger and I enjoyed every moment. I watched an older gentleman and his daughter catch probably 20 or 25 fish in about 45 minutes and many of them were white fish and according to him one was a monster. As for having trouble winding on peacock herl have you ever tried using super glue like Walter Wiese does on several of his tying videos. It really makes a much more durable fly and is easier to tie because even if it does break it is still stuck tight.