Canadian Goose and Dove Feathers

All about flies Fly Tying
1

I recently returned to my parents farm where large flocks of Canadian Geese and Doves roam. I picked up a lot of feathers from both birds. I think I can use the goose feathers like any goose biot but what about the (mourning) dove feathers? Any good flies use these?

2

we have alot of doves up here too, and was wondering the same thing, ill try em, and post back if youll do the same, (two heads are better than one)

3

mighta bin born in michigan ???..michigen…mishegon…michigin…spellings terrible, none of them look right

[This message has been edited by Mike.K (edited 04 April 2005).]

4

Cardinal,Mickey,

The dove feathers (dyed yellow)really look good used in a tellico nymph. They’re usually hard to come by unless you hunt or know someone who does.
Hurly

5

ooooh, bad joke of the day

6

The farm is in central Washington. ( Probably the best Pheasant hunting in the nation. ) To the east is more desert and then the Blue mountains. Pretty but not really goose territory. To the West is more desert until you cross the Cascades. Too high to fly over and ash problems to boot. To the South is the desert section of Oregon and then California. Ask any Californian and for sure no one wants to live ( opps I mean leave ) there. Nope they are Canadian all right.

7

Hate to split hairs here but…

The geese in question are a species called Canada Geese. One is a Canada Goose, two or more Canada Geese, not ever Canadian. It is a name not a geographic designation.

It would be the same as calling a lawn of Kentucky Bluegrass, Kentuckian Bluegrass or a bottle of bourbon Kentuckian Bourbon.

But you can tell them easily from their stateside counterparts by their distinctive sound:

Honk, honk, honk…ay!

Honk, honk, honk…ay!

8

For Hurly: The common morning dove is mostly a brown or even gray color. I got a bunch last fall and saved quite a few feathers from them. My question is: What feathers from the dove do you dye and where to you use them on the tellico?

Thanks, Tim Anderson (MSgt, Retired - 1981)

9

Feathers from the Canada Goose(Honkers)can be used in many ways. Here is some of what I do with them: The black and white feathers at the rear of the goose can be used for tails, legs, wings, and humps. The white ones can be dyed to suit. The breast feathers make good tails and bodies for mosquitos. The small covert wing feathers make good soft hackles. The large wing feathers can be used for making gray numphs (ala PT nymphs) and mosquitos, and each honker yields a lot of CDC. While I never counted the number of CDC feathers from one honker I guess it to be close to 75.

Here are three pictures of flies that are constructed partially with honker. Let yourimagine free and you will find many uses for the honker feathers.

Tim Anderson
[url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Panman/Fishing%20Flies/ColoradoCaddis.jpg:6be14]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Panman/Fishing%20Flies/ColoradoCaddis.jpg[/url:6be14] [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Panman/Fishing%20Flies/GrayHumpy.jpg:6be14]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Panman/Fishing%20Flies/GrayHumpy.jpg[/url:6be14] [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Panman/Fishing%20Flies/GPWetFly.jpg:6be14]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Panman/Fishing%20Flies/GPWetFly.jpg[/url:6be14]

10

panman, i agree, im using canada, (or american??)geese, mainly as subsitutes, and they work great!!

bamboozle, you must be hearing british geese, or goose…you can hear the difference…
honk, honk, honk ay.
or
honk, honk, honk eh.

11

Panman,
I’m not sure exactly ,but I picked up one at the Little River Fly shop and the clerk told me the guy who tied them used a dive feather palmered over the body. It has wide barbs and that’s what picked my interest. Try the coverlets on the wing.
Hurly

12

JC:

It’s like mice: One mouse, two meece, two or more meeces; goose, geese, geeses.

Now moose is the confusing thing: one moose, two moose, or is that mooses, three could be meece or meeces which brings us back to mice.

13

Boozle, help me out here. One goose is a goose. Ok, I got that but, if it’s a ‘boy’ goose? And a girl one is a goose and the boy is the gander, is a boy one a ‘gander-goose?’ A goose-gander?’ A goosie-gander?’ A gandered goose? Maybe a boy is a goosed gander? A gandered gander I don’t think, but a goosed goose? Are ‘they’ goosed geese? Geesed geeses? geese and ganders? Ganders and geese? (not geeses, right?)
And now about the girl ones…
… and a cob???

lets just call em a herd of gooses, or a herd of geese gooses, or…nevermind, lol.
you can call em whatever you want, their still nice substitutes!!!

14

Thanks Hurly - I will look into it.

Tim

15

I think JC in particular, and really all of you on this post need to get out and go fishing. It’s been a long winter, eh?

I fly fish the salt because the voices in my head tell me to…