Peacock Cosseboom - A Step By Step Guide

[speydulika]

To pen a most terrible pun, here's the deal. As fly dressers most if not all of us use peacock herl in our patterns. For my own part I go through masses and masses of the stuff and I find it as equally ubiquitous as jungle cock. What then do you do with the waste ends of the stuff that is no too good for very much but too good to throw away - BOOM!!! I give you the Peacock Cosseboom. The Cosseboom series originate in North America. The peacock version is one of the oldest and in my own opinion one of the prettiest. It has the curious distinction of actually working very well for fish. Personally I have done better with it for sea trout rather than the salmon that I believe it was originally developed to target. Enough blether, lets get on with it.



Tying Materials


Hook: Single or double or whatever you prefer. Size to suit yourself.
Thread: Red.
Tag and rib: Medium oval silver wire.
Tail: Peacock swords tied short.
Rear body: Gold holographic tinsel.
Front Body: natural peacock herl.
Hackle: Peacock swords tied as beard.
Wing: Grey squirrel ail with peacock swords over.
Cheeks: jungle cock.


Tying Method

Step 1: Secure the hook in the vice with the point(s) protruding.

Step 2: attach the tying thread around the mid point of the hook and wind back.

Step 3: Catch in a length of medium silver oval wire and wind to the rear of the hook.

Step 4:Wind the thread forward and make 6 touching turns of silver wire to form tag. Tie the remaining wire facing the eye.

Step 5: Tie in a small bunch of peacock swords quite short as a tail. Wind the thread to the mid point of the hook.

Step 6: Tie in a length of medium gold holographic tinsel.

Step 7: Wind the tinsel to form the rear body.

Step 8: Tie in 2 strands of natural peacock herl and wind the thread to the front of the hook.

Step 9: Wind the herls to form the front half of the body.

Step 10: Wind the remaining silver wire in open turns to form rib.

Step 11: Invert the hook and tie in a small bunch of peacock swords as a beard hackle.

Step 12: 'Right' the hook and after ensuring that the hackle is sitting central tie in a bunch of grey squirrel tail fibres as a wing.

Step 13: Overlay the wing with a bunch of peacock swords. The length of the swords should match the length of the swords used for the hackle.

Step 14: Tie in a pair of jungle cock nails as cheeks.

Step 15: Whip finish.

Step 16: Varnish to complete.

[Fishtales]

Added to sticky.