how come all the peacock I see in the stores is so thin compared to what I used to be able to find? (I live in Colorado).
I used to be able to find thick peacock that was good for tying #12 & #14 nymphs. I can not find it anywhere nowadays. I have an easier time finding peacock for #18 & #20 nymphs.
Is there a "genetic " peacock that is being bread or something? 
Mark:
I know what you mean!
As the number of local fly shops dry-up and disappear, and those that do business by mail and the internet, are reducing the amount of various materials that are in stock, I have come up with alternative sources closer to home for most of my fly tying materials. Sometimes you have to compromise, but the final outcome is not noticeable unless you look closely.
I purchase my peacock herl from JoAnn Fabric or Michaels. They have the short peacock feather (18") and long (36") they are in clear sealed bags, yet you can compare the various bags and know which have the thicker hackle.
I do not use rayon floss, instead it is JoAnn Fabric and Michaels with their rayon thread that does the trick, and the rayon thread works for replacement for silk thread. For my normal fly tying thread, I have switched to sewing thread (cotton, polyester, nylon), I save my Waspi Spools for refilling, using a wood dowel that I tapered one end and then insert in my cordless drill to transfer the thread on to my Waspi Spool.
As for hooks, I do not think there is any place that carries all brand names in hooks, and none having the whole line of hooks from any manufacturer.
I get my fur pieces from furriers, that repair fur coats and store them for customers. They sometimes throw away small swatches that they cannot use, and I get them for freeâŚ
If you need hackle I suggest Conranch Hackle, a Sponsor of FAOL. Denny only sells to the public, never to fly shops. Top quality hackle.
Parnelli
Mark,
I use an awful lot of peacock herl. I buy the strung stuff rather than the whole feathers simply for convenience.
I used to be able to buy decent stuff off the wall at craft shops. Now itâs all pretty thin. Itâs fine for smaller patterns, as youâve noticed, but wasnât full enough for much of my tying. Even the off brand herl at most fly shops nowadays is pretty sorry stuff.
While I purchase materials at the fly shop only when absolutely necessary, I do buy my peacock herl from Orvis. I have found that their âlargeâ herl in the âbigâ package (enough for several thousand flies) is by far the best available of what Iâve seen. I use between two and five herls together to wrap most herl requiring patterns that I tie, and if I buy the âgood stuffâ I can use fewer strands to get the same result. For me, this means that itâs actually more cost effective to use than the âcheaperâ off brand stuff.
Orvis does mail order, and if you are having trouble finding good herl, try ordering some of theirs. There is no risk, as they have an unconditional guarantee and will take it back if you donât like. Or, if you have an Orvis shop near you, they will either have it or get it for you and you can avoid the shipping costs.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Check out Charlie Cravenâs shop in Arvada (or on-line at www.charliesflyboxinc.com); materials Iâve bought from him have been of the highest quality. Heck of a good tyer, too.
Regards,
Scott
Mark,
I have this gosh awful matted ball of peacock herl that I have been picking apart for over 35 years and Iâve still not used it all up. The only saving grace for this mess is that there are a lot of thick herls in it. The herls themselves are also short in length, but fine for small Griffiths Gnats. The fibers are of even length on both sides of the stem also. It seems like a lot of herl you get today has long fibers on one side of the stem only. What I do with all my herls (peacock/ostrich) is twist 4 or 5 herls together to form my own peacock chenille. You would have to make a couple of these to cover the shank on a streamer. This method also makes the herl body much more durable than wrapping individual herls around the hook. This solves the short hair fiber dilemma for me. Hope this helps.
Best regards, Dave S.
If you know anyone that owns/raises them, ask for shed feathers. A friend of the family has a peacock and he gave me about a dozen beautiful feathers and told me to come back for another dozen as soon as I needed them. The hackle I bought strung in a bag works just fine for me, but compared to this stuff itâs like night and day.
Have a buddy on another board that gets his peacock from these folks www.swalefandson.com heâs sent me some and itâs really nice stuff
On a thread over at Clarks Classic Mike Valla says:
"Something about that stripped peacock quill body just makes me smileâevery time. About the Peacock. Iâve been asked about getting good peacock eyes. Well, I purchase the feathers in bulkâ100 at a time. And sort through all of them, looking for good segmentation. You can usually spot good eyes by looking at the back of the eye. You can actually see the segmentation potential from the back. It takes some practice, like anything, but thatâs the trick. Out of the 100, I might get 12-15 âgoodâ eyes.
With a hundred full feathers thereâs gotta be some good herl in their somewhereâs!!
Fatman
Mark,
I agree the peacock hurl that is available or has been available to me from the shops I go to have been less than desirable. I donât want to throw any one supplying company under the bus when there are so many guilty of putting out <BAD WORD>. (I censored myself)
You would think that quality control would have prevented this and put some peacocks on Rogaine. Instead they risk their good names, donât adjust their prices to the quality and adulterate the market with what now passes as peacock hurl.
Thanks for the post and everyoneâs solutions.
Sean
I got my first peacock a long time agoâŚstrungâŚfrom several sourcesâŚsupposedly good shops âŚand have not been satisfiedâŚI 've not shopped the sources mentioned above and have too much to not use up.
A friend grows peacocks and he gave me many feathers âŚnone of which were very good.
I have found that stroking it first âagainst the grainâ helps .
Hey Scott, itâs been a long time!
Natures Spirit, absolutly the best herl, ask for it at the shop you choose . Charlies Flybox probably has it. Feathercraft used to carry good stuff too.
Feathercraft was where I got some thinking that too, flybugpaâŚwas disappointed. I suppose it can vary.
The stuff i got from Feathercraft, like 5 pks, was while Ed Story was still with us, advertised as âcleaned, hand washedâ and boy back then it was the fullest shiny most beautiful stuff arround. maybe times have changed.
i have some from natures spirit thatâs pretty good not great like back in the day. i use 3 to 5 hurls wrapped around tying thread for a more full application.
Mark,
I believe you have me at a disadvantage.
Regards,
Scott
well it is only my humble oppion .anglers addiction-in puebloâŚan arkanglers in salida âŚwill find it for ya âŚbut on that note âŚi seen white peacock in st. augustine,fl. (live ones)i wonder if thier feathers have the same effect as the good green ones âŚhey i live over near guffey âŚlook me up in face book too michael takesthegun
Has anyone heard that if you leave peacock herl in the sunlight (windowsill in the sun) the green will fade to a bronze color?
yes. sunlight will change the color.
You can try it, but the window has to be plain glass. Most home windows now are treated to prevent some of the sunâs rays from going through, so it wonât age things nearly as fast. Many of the older fly patterns called for bronze herl and itâs really very easy to tell if you have any. Most peacock eye feathers are in two color phases, either green or magenta. Seperate the magenta ones out and bring them to a window, or outside on a sunny day. The herl thatâs under the eye will show almost no green at all when you look at it under sunlight. On some of the feathers that I have, the very tip shows green, but the rest of the herl is all bronze. If most of the herl shows green, put those feathers back with the green phase ones. Feathers MC carryâs bronze peacock herl, but I donât know if John has done the sunlight test which really is the key to bronze herl. I recently bought a copy of The Art Of Tying The Wet Fly by Leisenring and Hidy, and thatâs where this explanation came from. Hereâs the peacock link to Featherâs MC just to show what the magenta color phase ones look like.
http://feathersmc.com/products/Bronze%20Peacock%20Herl
Regards,
Mark
that is apparently not true!
see the link above