What is the difference between them and where can you get them? Are there any cheap substitutes for them? Thanks, Travis
microfibbetts are synthetic (artist paintbrushes) and mayfly tails are real.
a good substitute is coq de leon feathers
you can get them from some of the sponsors on this site dealing fly tying materials (except for the mayfly tails. they come from the real bug)
I’ll 2nd Norms response. CDL is my personal choice. I buddy of mine however buys the pale tan natural paint brushes…and dyes them with with RIT. I prefer the CDL personally, but you get a lifetime supply with one paint brush color.
The scientists and engineers on the board might tell us that they’re made from different co-polymers or something, but for all intents and purposes, they’re the same for flytying. I believe that Mayfly Tails are pre-soaked in WaterShed.
There probably isn’t a fly shop in the land that doesn’t carry one or the other.
If I want to make sparse split tails, I opt for fibbets. Otherwise, I usually go with CDL as well. Not always the perfect match to the natural, but I doubt the fish care.
I sure hope when I have to go back to work, they don’t make me pluck the tails off mayflies.
… that you can’t do with microfibets and mayfly tails.
Follow the link for some ideas and a look at my favorite little mayfly ( read bwo ).
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?25684-CDL-nymphs
Whiting puts out a “CDL Tailing Pack” that goes for $16 but will last the best part of a lifetime. The light Pardo has a wider range of coloration than the medium and dark Pardos.
Also, the lighter color CDL fibers take marking pen quite nicely.
John
Now back to your regularly threaded discussion.
Whiting CDL is a pseudo CDL and not the real thing… Genuine CDL comes from spain and costs about 5 - 7 Euros for a plume of around 12 single feathers. (They are plucked from between the shoulders of a live bird NOT from the neck, so therefore cannot be obtained as capes or necks as Whitings supply!) Genuine CDL is a beautiful feather.
To get back on topic after my rant… Probably the cost of genuine Coq De Leon is higher than Microfibbets, although I agree if you can get it its well worth the cost. I use synthetic paintbrushes. You can find them in various shades from black, grey to a light olive colour. I catch fish (sometimes); not sure if I would catch more using the packets of microfibbets sold in fly tying shops or not. I think they are more designed to catch fly tiers and am sure someone is sat with a bucket load of cheap paint brushes cutting them up and packing them into tiny packets and making his or her fortune!
… the Whiting product is real CDL. And the flies tied with it are real. And the trouts those flies catch are real, too.
John
Hi Mick,
I agree with you that CDL from Spain is superior and as you say expensive. Whiting Farms CDL that comes in Tailing Packs is from between the shoulders and for about the same price as CDL from Spain you get a whole bunch more feathers. Each generation of CDL from Whiting is getting better than the last. I have some CDL from Whiting that rivals CDL from Spain. Every once in a while I take out my CDL i got from Paco and admire it, it is beautiful stuff. Just can’t get me self to use it!
Back to the thread, Microfibbets are great for split tail para flies or lowrider flies. They are a bit soft for traditional dries.
Jim
I have to politely disagree that Microfibbets are too soft for traditional tails. I prefer them over traditional hackle because they are more stiff and much more uniform to work with. I prefer them for split type tails due to the fact that they are stiffer than hackle fibers. All around they have their application just as CDL and hackle fibers. I still prefer the material sold as Microfibbets and not paint brush material. Easier to work from and with, as well as to store. Very uniform and you can find whatever color you need, and there is a lot in one bunch.
Kelly.
When i first used Microfibbets, i was really surprised at how hard they are to break, unlike many natural matls.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
I’ve got a Medium Pardo Rooster Saddle that is head-&-shoulders better than anything I’ve found in the tailing packs. Was labelled a “grade #1”. Not had alot of luck finding full saddles since though:^(
Everything in CDL you find these days are bronze grade.
Oh no they are not… (Sound like a pantomime dame now!) As I said Coq De Leon is plucked from a live bird from an area between the shoulders of the bird. They are a different feather completely from the Whiting necks. I have both. Whitings necks or saddles are from a similar colour strain, Pardo (which I believe means speckled in Spanish) or Indio (don’t know what that means, except they are not speckled!) They then come in a range of colours under these headings from a light to a very dark.
I think the whiting birds originated from some CDL stock, but the feathers produced from the necks of the birds are completely different apart from similarities in the colours. The Spanish CDL come in plumes of usually 12 feathers and are normally labelled with a cardboard tag giving their origin. They have much longer fibres and are much much stiffer than the Whiting CDL necks.
Anyway enough of stealing this mans post… but if you are interested in CDL take a look here http://www.gallosdeleon.com/Ingles/ingles.html there are lots of other sites but many in Spanish or French so unless you speak the lingo you will have to believe me or them hahahaha
PS I just read Jims post and bow to his knowledge that the tailing packs are from the shoulders. I have never had the tailing packs I confess. So I stand back to his superior knowledge of them. I know what you mean about taking them out and looking at them Jim. They are a remarkable looking feather. Much too nice to use.
Hi Kelly,
For traditional style dries I just don’t like Microfibbets. From my observations you can see them bend by the wieght of the fly when compared to good stiff tailing hackle in comparable bulk/# of fibers. Again this has been my observation and totally unscientific.
Jim
… for a moment, here is a link to a discussion started by mickporter a little over a year ago.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?27318-Coq-De-Leon
Mick seems to have a “thing” about his expensive feathers from Spain, while most seem to agree that since Whiting’s CDL feathers come from Coq de Leon stock, it is appropriate for Whiting to call them CDL feathers.
John
Guys the bristles from a shaving brush work well also
I like the tailing packs I got from Charlie Collins; although not officially spade hackle (I believe they are scapular feathers), they have many of the same desirable traits - length, stiffness, that spade hackle had on older capes that I can’t seem to find anymore. When my supply of ginger, brown, dun and grizzly runs out, probably when I turn 174, I’ll try the other stuff, although some of the CDL does look pretty neat and I may have to give it a look.
Regards,
Scott