are peacock feathers any good for tying and if so do you need to pephare them
They are an excellent feather for use in tying. The swords can be used in place of chennile (sp?). You can also strip the sword of its fiber and use the quills for body material. I am sure others will add to this and the list will amaze you of the uses of peacock feathers in tying.
Peacock is excellent. Its “fish catching qualities” are awesome. ( with the right presentation among other things of course.)
Not to confuse anything, but lately, I have been substituting Peacock Ice Dub for peacock herl. Its “fish catching qualities” seem to be the same and it is much more durable.
Lastly, Beware, Peacock not only catches the eyes of fish…It also catches fisherman. 
Good post ,Chris…
I’m liking Ice Dub [in all colors] more and more…
mudflaper…some folks…make that …a lot of folks think peacock is magical…
I would recommend you stroke the feather …“against the grain”…to make the barbules stand out…gives a fuller wrap
funny thing-when i was tyin’ up some PTs today i was thinking how unfortunate it would be not to have peacock for a material- if it did not exist…
it’s just great stuff!
i also agree w/ Flyandtie1- the peacock ice dub is very good also- i prefer the darker one- i think they call it black peacock ice dub.
- , Clarkii.
Fly bodies, wet and dry, made from peacock eye feather herl (unstripped) have a natural iridescence that just can’t be beat by any other material. Six to twelve herl fibers from eye or sword feathers also make a wonderful wing topping for most steamers. It’s been used for hundreds of years and is still an outstanding material. Oh, lets not forget the Coachman and the Royal Coachman. Wonderful, Wonderful Stuff. 8T 
I wish it wasn’t so fragile.
And there is the downside of peacock. :sad:
Peacock being fragile is the main reason I tried the Ice Dub.
For yrs I would always be picky and only buy peacock tails that had thick fibers. Does someone know what the story is about why peacock quality varies so much? Are the thick fibers from a healthier bird?
Thanks,
Doug
To make peacock herl almost indestructable wrap it around and around your thread before wrapping it on the hook it will then be very strong. I always use two herls instead of one but don’t know why. I just remember someone telling me to do that.
You can also wrap pheasant tail fibers on the thread to make a Pheasant tail nymph that is very strong. Pheasant herl should also be stroked backwards for a better effect on fly bodies.
Wooly buggers chenile and Hackle benefit from this method also.
Dshock, i don’t know the answer but I suspect it is as you said , healthier birds in a better environment probably grow better herl. Also the age of the bird probably has something to do with it.
Denny Conranch has bred chickens to have wonderful feathers , I wonder if peacock farmers have or could do the same thing with peacocks.
I too look for the really nice ones in every fly shop I enter. I have so far never seen anyone advertise different grades of peacock herl.
Gnu Bee’s suggestion absolutely makes all the difference in the world when using peacock for bodies.
What I do is; make a long loop of thread at the tie in point of my peacock herl. I use THREE fibers of peacock herl and cut off the fragile tips so all three are even and cut back to the stronger section. I then tie in the three strands of herl and put the herl AND the thread loop in an EZ-Hook. Twist up the herl strands and the thread using the EZ-Hook and you end up with a herl chenille that is nice and fuzzy and pretty darn tough.
If I am tying smaller flies I may cut one end of the thread loop to make it a single strand of thread and reduce the number of herl fibers to TWO but the thread is ALWAYS part of the process. Even if the herl breaks at the tie in point; with the thread twisted in you can still wrap the broken strand with no problem.
My Prince Nymphs seem to last forever with the tinsel breaking long before the herl.
I to make a rope of the herl by twisting the thread in with the herl.
Doug in answer to your questin I spoke with some friends who have peacocks and they state it is the health of the bird, the age of the bird, and the time of year the feather is harvested.
Along the lines of quality of peacock, does it always look worse after it gets wet, or should I replace mine? It looks matted and kind of dull, although it looks fine in the package.
When I am tying a fly that calls for Peacock for the body, I always leave the tag end of my tying thread longer when I do the thread wraps to cover the shank of the hook at the beginning of the tie. When I get to the Peacock I grab this tag end and twist it with the Peacock herl and wrap the body. If I forget to do this, I just grab a piece of olive or green tying thread and tie it in with the Peacock and twist it all together. Peacock is and always will be a beautiful tying material with lots uses. If you twist 4-6 strands with tying thread and wrap it for the body on a bugger it gives you a really nice body and color plus it is small enough that you can tie some beautiful small buggers on a #14 streamer hook.
I agree with the comments about herl being rather fragile. Two ideas for the tyer.
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When tying a herl body use two herls and tie them in at the rear of the hook. Leave the thread at the rear and advance the herl to the front of the hook and then advance the herl back to where the thread is. Tie off the herl and use your tying thread as a rib to reinforce the herl… This is simple and quick.
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Take a look at a product called New Age Chenille put out by Riverborn. It comes in different colors. Midnight Rainbow #89, Size 2, comes close to natural herl. The fish seem to like it as well.
Tim
I have a small hot glue pot. I take several peacock herl and a thread of the same length,dip one end in the hot glue. This can be made up ahead of time with any number of heals depending on tying size. I tie in the loose end spin the glue ball to twist the hearl and thread and then wrap. BILL
mudflaper If you have access to peacocks I assume you are mostly going to get shed feathers. Pick up all of the tail feathers you can. The eyed feathers are the ones everyone is talking about. The herl for bodies is the part below the eye. The eye portion is used to top streamers and stripped for quill bodies. Also pick up the bright green sword feathers (Google a picture of these) and the secondary wing quill feathers. Try to match up the secondary quills in pairs from opposite sides. Wash the feathers if needed and allow to dry while laid flat and then store in zip lock bags for the smaller ones. The large tail feathers make a nice decoration in a vase until you are ready to begin plucking one or you can cut them to fit in a bag. As a rule the more mature birds will have the best feathers.
I always counter wrap my herl bodies with fine gold wire and they seem to stay together reasonably well. I’m not saying that I don’t get a broken piece of herl sticking out at an odd angle every once in a while, particularly after a few fish, but I just view it as the fly becoming a cripple or an emerger. Remember that they aren’t perfect in nature either! 8T
harleybob87,
Thanks for the info! What hasn’t been mentioned is what a “Delight” it is to have Peacock in your yard! They are so quiet!! quiet!, quiet! Just delightful!
http://jimmysweblog.net/2004/01/peacock.jpg
(just kidding)
Doug
I’m still trying to figure out how to make peacock herl dubbing brushes.
Before I started using the dubbing brush platform I purchased some from Feather-Craft, I believe, and they were very durable.
Anyone know how to do this?