Peacock body qiuills

[Ray Kunz]

Could someone suggest a source for peacock eye quills that have been pre stripped for tying segmented dry fly bodies. I have these in use on several videos but have not seen them in catalogs. And why does my "enter" button not work on this site only? Thanks.

[Corvus]

www.polishquills.com Colors available. Best I've found. Look under "where to buy" for USA dealers, either Ohio or California.

[AlanB]

The polish quills are certainly the best I've seen, the only problem for me is the cost. They are very expensive. I can get them at wholesale price, and I even baulk at that. They cost more than the hooks I use. The problem for me is that anglers, who do not tie, do not recognise them as a premium product. I have no problem charging extra for a salmon fly with jungle cock eyes. I can't get away with extra for Polish Quills.

Usually I strip my own. I like to get full peacock eye feathers, so I can select the herls I want for peacock bodies. Once the usable herls have been used up I strip the eye by bleaching it.

Not all peacock eyes are equal. I know of a flock near here, the alpha male will not permit any of the other males to grow a tail. His tail feathers are great but those of the others are very ragged. The older this bird gets the better its eye feathers are. The fibres are longer and wider. These are the ones to seek out.

Once you have stripped the flue, there are many methods, they are easy to dye. Recently I did some in turmeric, and got a nice yellow / olive colour.

Cheers,
A.

[Byron haugh]

Blue Ribbon Flies wall:

[maodiver]

I have just the tail version of that...one I shot about 10 years ago

[Byron haugh]

There is kind of a botanical garden not far from where I live. It is the grounds where luau's are put on. They have peacocks on the grounds. However, I have not seen the full plumage on any peacock like the one on Blue Ribbon's wall. The plumage is so full!