Wood duck use question

Perhaps some of you have taken the time to explore this. I have not but I certainly am interested in learning.
1)If you were to get a wood duck(m) skin, how many feathers(the ones refered to as 'lemon wood duck flank'), of sufficient size and barring, would be suitable for using for dry fly wings assuming you wanted to use 1 feather per fly?

2)After you use the feather for the above application, do yu save the remains for any other application where wood duck may be called for? What might that be?

Thanks.

Allan

[biot midge]

Allan,
I can't answer your first question since I haven't had a full skin. As for your second question, yes, I use it all. I use it for tailing/trailing shuck material for midge emergers and BWO emergers. I also use it for tailing on Bird's Nests and .56%ers.
Steve

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"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went"-Will Rogers

[catskilljohn]

Allan,
An exhaustive count of one of my skins totaled 88 lemon flank feathers.There were 22 barred flank feathers.
After I use one,I always save the leftover,and use it for nymph tails.CJ

[Alberto]

Allan,

I don't have an answer for your first question (never had a full skin), but I use the remaining of the feather as tails on wet flies, nymphs, and sometimes as wings on small wet flies. Also if the feather is not suitable for tying dry fly wings, I use it to make a Woodduck Heron streamer.

Alberto

manohman I wish I had more wood duck feathers suitable for wings. I think I've run out of them. I have tons of barred ones and use the barbules below the bars for nymph tails. a lot. I've come to learn that it's the best tail around.

like I said earlier I wish I had more flank feathers. I love the way they wing.

mgj

[Alberto]

mikey,

I like to use barred feathers for wet fly wings. My favorite is the Cajun Coachman:
[url=http://www.invictaflies.us/Wet%20Flies/Cajun%20Coachman.htm:15855]http://www.invictaflies.us/Wet%20Flies/Cajun%20Coachman.htm[/url:15855]

This is a Tom Nixon pattern.

Regards,

Alberto

[Panman]

The Wood Duck has neat looking breast feathers. Brown with a white tip. They make good looking (at least I think so) flies when tied kinda like a Hornberg. Hook is a #12. I have used this pattern successfully for both trout and panfish. Here is an example. The Green Wing Teal also has a pretty breast feather for the same application.

Tim Anderson

[RonMT]

Allen I have never taken the time to count the numbers of feathers on any bird. If they don't know why should I.
Just kidding. I get in the neighborhood of 8 to 10 woodduck skins a year through trades and just given to me by hunters. I use a lot of the feathers for different things and I dye a lot of the feathers for use on some flies. I keep and use the butt of the feather after I cut it off from having used the tips for a wing. I use the but for the wingcase on a nymph pattern I tie.
The neck feathers are used for a pattern I tie for a shop in Miane. The ones with the white tip that is. It is used for the wing on a caddis pattern.
I dye the flank olive for use on emergers and also for tailing on Beatis nymphs.
I am sure you know that the white brest feathers are used for Fan Wings. I do not use many of the barred feathers as I do not tie Salmon flies much anymore. I have a lot of them for sure. Ron

[Royal Wulff]

Allan, RW here

I only use the lemon flank from a woodie for the classic wets and dries and I can get about two to three flies per feather if they are good size and quality. The more inferior and webby ones I can usually squeeze out one fly. I never thought of saving all the woodie flank over the years I duck hunted. I kick myself a lot these days because of that. You and Mike have bailed me out a few times over the last couple years and I hoard every feather. I never counted the suitable flank feathers on a single bird, but a skin would probably last me a good while, since many of the old pattern wet flies like the Grizzly King and Professor used grey/white mallard flank, which these days, for me, is a lot easier to get. That lets me stretch my woodie supply.

Later, RW



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"We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours." -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-

[RonMT]

RW- If you run out of Woody feathers you can use your Mallard flank. Just dye it. Go to your local market and ask if you can have the red onion skins. The loose ones. They will give them to you as I know they do here. Just boil the onion skins up for about an hour. Turn down the heat and wash your Mallard flank in ln soap and rinse well. Then just put the flank in the onion skin water and let it set for a while. Just ckeck it now and then tell you get the color you like. This is the best way to get a good woodduck look-a-like that I have found. Hope this might help you.

If you get in short supply. And if you need the real thing shoot me and e-mail as I usually have about 12 to 15 full skins on hand at a time. Learned a long time ago not to run short of anything.

I have some hunters in Texas, Wisconsin and up-state New York along the St L that save the skins for me. It pays to have people doing this. I just trade them flies for the skins. Works out real well. Ron