Any one use Pigeon

All about flies Fly Tying
1

I was wondering if anyone has ever tied with Pigeon. I am unsure on the characterisctics of the feathers, but the colors could be pretty cool on some soft hackle if there are any that could be used for this. If anyone has used Pigeon or could tell me what the characteristics would be that would be awsome.

Thanks,

Brandon

2

I harvested some feathers from a hawk kill in our back yard; they did make great soft hackles. Hoping the coopers and sharp-shins have a banner season again this year.

Regards,
Scott

3

Never used any feathers, but they’re tasty on the grill!

4

I work with pigeons, and I tried some of the feather before, I found them to be too fragile to use them as soft hackle. However, there is a great variety of pigeons (domesticated) that could provide different feathers. I will collect some of the batch of birds I have now and see how these are.
M

5

I tied in the feathers by the tip and that cut down on the breakage, a lot.

Regards,
Scott

6

Thanks guys I appreciate the response! Going to have to give it a go.

Brandon

7

Because most pigeon feathers are far too big for most soft hackles I use split thread dubbing techniques to use pigeon feathers as hackle. It is quick and easy to do and very effective.

8

One of our best flies here is tied with feathers from a bird we call a “night pigeon”. Lovely brown and cream feathers, very soft. Don’t suppose that counts? :wink:
Cheers,
A.

9

I haven’t used pigeon but I have used dove. Nice cream color to it but it was difficult to tie.

10

Moonliteflies, I have tried the pigeon feathers, but found the stem to be a little thick for small flies. However, with the burbles striped off and inserted into a split thread or loop they do make good soft hackles. Crunchy

11

I’ve used pigeon. As others have mentioned, the stem can get a bit thick, but then, I’ll just use the tip, and the fibres from the thick stem area get used for wet fly throats, or tails, etc.

  • Jeff
12

You beat me to it…(LOL). I was going to say, “I tried, but it’s hard to get them to stay still long enough to tie them to the hook. But they work great fried, broiled…”.

13

You beat me to it…(LOL). I was going to say, “I tried, but it’s hard to get them to stay still long enough to tie them to the hook. But they work great fried, broiled…”. :slight_smile: