I was browsing around at my local Micheal’s after work. I always check the feathers, to see if something new has come in. This time, something had. Some Lady Amherst Pheasant tail feathers.
Are there any patterns calling for these? Maybe a PT with a the LA feather fibers instead of the typical Ringneck feather fibers?
Yes, but…
They are mostly classic Atlantic salmon flies.
My experience is that Amherst tail doesn’t wrap that well. It does, however, make some great wings, especially when it is dyed. Deer Creek do some dyed sections for this. You might like to get a couple of tails and dye them up in sections. The tails are very long so you’ll get lots of sections out of them, for lots of colours. Then just be creative.
Cheers,
A.
Also used in steelhead patterns like the Intruder, which still is not of much use to someone in OK, I imagine. What you can use them for is collars on streamers. As Alan says, be creative.
We use a ton of them up here and our Michael’s does not carry them. The local fly shops get $20 per feather…
Arizona Peacock Lady - don’t go there without them
$20/feather??? That’s outragious!! The package I saw had two feathers, and I think it priced @ $2.99 + tax for the bag.
Those were likely the side feathers rather than the centers. They have very different patterns and the centers have much longer barbs. Also the classic ones are much longer… more feather for your Jacksons… 
I was thinking that. These were only about 12" long, maybe 15" at the most. All my Ringneck Pheasant tail feathers are at least 18", if not longer.
Yeah, the centers are often over 40" long and most in fly shops are probably over 30".