A duck hunter friend of mine returned the other day with half a dozen birds and saved me the carcasses after breasting them out. There were at least 3 different varieties and both male and female. I got a bunch of nice flank feathers resembling mallard. Some were darker than mallard. I found that the CDC feathers were pretty small. None larger than an inch or so. The larger CDC came frorm the smaller bird varieties.
Does anyone know where the commercial CDC comes from and what variety of bird?
Also, while I’m here, Does anyone have a good BWO pattern using CDC? I’ve got a good bit of the small stuff, natural dun colored and abuut the right size and color for BWO’s. I know that comercial CDC has been washed in detergent if it is dyed (some claim to add preen oil after processing). Also some people claim that the flotation of CDC comes from the structure of the feather, not the preen oil. My opinion is that the cdc must float better with the oil than without. I concede that the feather structure also plays a part. I’d like some opinions. Facts would be welcome also!
heres some info written by Hans Weilenmann
http://www.danica.com/flytier/articles/cdc_types/cdc_types.htm
… it is my experience that the natural oils do contribute to better floatation than I get with a “treated” CDC feather.
The CDC that I’ve gotten from a couple hunter friends is far superior to even the best CDC from Trouthunter. Much better floatation for much longer. I fished one Harrop’s Henry’s Fork Caddis tied with CDC from a hunter friend on a small spring creek down in the Central Mountains of Idaho and caught about 35 trouts ( smaller bows and brookies ) over the course of a couple hours before the fly refused to float. ( While the number of fish caught was unusual, the performance of the fly was not. ) Nothing was required to dry the fly, other than false casting or just blowing on it.
On the other hand, I have tied some CDC loop wing style flies with premium CDC from Trouthunter, and they were hardly fishable. Tied very similar CDC loop wings flies for the March Brown and Mahogany hatches with CDC from my friends and did very well with them.
John
Here is some information on locating the prime feathers on a duck.
http://willfishforwork.com/2010/11/01/plucking-the-duck-mallard-reincarnated-as-fly-part-i/
http://willfishforwork.com/2010/11/02/plucking-the-duck-mallard-reincarnated-as-fly-part-ii/
Thanks for the links guys. I’ve tyed The CDC caddis and the Loop wing emerger before. I think I’ll try them with my new freshly harvested stuff.
Normand, I really like your website. I’ve got it bookmarked for more exploring later. Learned a lot about improving my pictures. Yours are great!
The larger CDC will come from larger, mature ducks. Think old greenhead mallards. Wigeon or teal will have smaller CDC. Mergansers are a lost cause, IMO. Young ducks tend to have smaller CDC than the older ones. As for quality, the stuff I pick from wild ducks is so far beyond the stuff I see in the stores that I will try to never buy it again, and as for Trouthunter’s stuff, don’t get me started.
If you need BIG stuff (and an old drake mallard will give you feathers big enough for a #6 october caddis wing), find a goose hunter and use the goose equivalent. If the CDC you use doesn’t seem to float a fly well enough…use more CDC. And I like to keep my CDC sort of sorted, so I don’t use big, high quality feathers on small flies, when I can use small CDC and achieve the same results.
Learn to ID the ducks, and it will also help you snag useful feathers not just for you, but for you to trade with others for things you may need more.
I gotta say. the CDG I got off of a Ross’ Goose this season is Niiiiice. White and large and poofy.
I also take CDC off of all ducks, no matter the breed. Put it all together in the same baggie. I see no need to dye it at all. the “dun” color of the natrual stands out just fine.
What part of the bird and feathers does the CDC come from? Is it that white fluffy stuff at the base of all feathers? I don’t think that stuff floats very well… Is CDC an actual whole feather in its entirety?
Let me know if my questions don’t make sense. 
Karli Rae, Popperfly put up these two links on locating the CDC feather. I was kind of wondering if I can catch one and throw a bag of its head and pick the feathers and they will grow back.
http://willfishforwork.com/2010/11/01/plucking-the-duck-mallard-reincarnated-as-fly-part-i/
http://willfishforwork.com/2010/11/02/plucking-the-duck-mallard-reincarnated-as-fly-part-ii/
I much prefer to kep th ewhole bird rather than turning it into a pile of baggies that will never be findable again… And matching feathers from a baggie of feathers is a serious pain. I keep the entire skin when possible which is the perfect filing system…
CDC is plucked and put in baggies, but that is the only feather and that is because they are not easy to pull from dried skins and I have broken enough to realize they work fine in baggies…
If you have ever skinned a duck you will know that they are very greasy and unless you de-grease it the entire skin and feathers will become one matted ball of grease over time. It is a difficult process and for waterfowl it is far easier to just pluck the feathers.
OMG…what you just said to hap…“.ever skinned”…he ain’t a NY stock broker…
Ron,
At one time I supplied a large number of duck skins to major retailers. I guided duck hunters and really got after recovering duck skins whenever possible. I processed hundreds per year and can do them far faster than average after all the practice. I should scan an old photo just so you can see what a pile of duck skins looks like!
I score the fat and soak it out with white gas. Then a wash in warm soapy water gets the feathers clean.
I use a tumbler to dry and polish the feathers after… But that is just a fancy way of saying a bucket half-full of dry sawdust and borax, turning slowly. If I only have a couple to do a hair drier will blow the feathers around and fluff them as they dry.
It isn’t for the faint of heart, but the filing system laid out on the skin trumps baggies every time. Presentation tying demands matching feathers and that is just about impossible from a baggie.
art
Hap
The curious want to know…what does white gas do to the CDC’s natural oils?
Nothing that I have been able to figure. Realize I only soak in white gas when I have a bunch to do. Which is not often these days. I can scrape the fat by scoring it and rubbing briskly with borax to both soak it out and get it moving. It is faster when doing just one because there is no soaking time…
The birds through most of the process look like very pathetic drowned rats, but really shine when fluffed up.
And I have no fear of floatant…
That’s exactly what I meant about difficult process in my post, for most tyers, pluck and bag is the way to go and I seriously doubt that fish are attracted to the taste of white gas.
Part of the issue with pluck and bag is the incredible array of wasted feathers. Saving the entire skin is a very good way to have access to a lot of feathers unobtainable any other way and they are usable and choice in many circumstances. Having done it both ways a lot for many years, the skins simply trump baggies in every respect except initial ease of preperation. You win that part of the argument without even a wimper from me.
I doubt the white gas aroma survives the sawdust and borax tumble… or the airing out it will get the first time fished.
But then, WD40 has been used as a commercial longlining bait scent enhancer for decades. Many salmon fishermen have been known to hose their gear down with WD40 for exactly the same reason, though they claim it is done to protect the metal.
For me a whiff of WD40 brings me back gagging memories of fishing for halibut commercially in huge seas from small boats… and adding to the “pleasure” is the distinct aroma of halibut itself… Not exactly the sweet herby scent of grayling…
art
I agree, I generally like to pick feathers off of a skin, but for ducks, skinning and de-greasing is not worth the trouble for me. I concede that there are lot of great feathers on a ducks that are not getting used by tyers, no doubt because skins are generally not available. For instance I really like those cream colored feathers under the tail of drake green wing teal. They are the perfect size and color for wings on PMD’s. I’m sure we’d see a lot more patterns w/ duck feathers if duck skins were commercially available. It’s great that you take the time to do it, but not many people would.