Jackdaw

All about flies Fly Tying
1

I was re-watching some of Hans’ videos and saw the video on the Dark Watchet. I like the looks of that fly but Jackdaw is difficult and expensive for me to come by. Is there a commonly accepted substitute, or shall I just look around for something else, like Starling?

Thanks,
Ed

2

Ed,

Just watched the vid - cool fly. I’d go with starling - cheap and available. Black hen would probably work okay, too.

Regards,
Scott

3

You can buy jackdaw wings and heads at a pretty fair price, if that is not in your budget, you can use starling, as stated, or crow.

4

I just tied a bunch of Dark Wachets with dusky dun hen hackle:

It only used it because I had it; I could get a jackdaw head and set of wings for less than the cost of the hen hackle.

5

The only jackdaw I have seen locally is in small packs that work out to about $1.feather. I’ll look online for the head + wings option.

Thanks!
Ed

6

Here are two Cookshill.com and feather emporium.com.

7

Thanks,
Ed