Useless Feathers

[Black-Don]

The flies you tie are normally in the 14 to 8 range and  you don't tie streamers, saltwater, size 28 or Salmon flies. What do you do with the feathers on a cape that you can't use for anything else ?

Apart from making feather mattresses that is.

[Fishtales]

Catch the barbs in a dubbing twist/rope, whatever you want to call it, allowing the length of hackle you want sticking out and cut them off the stalk, twist and tye in as a hackle at the neck or palmered down the body.

Use the long barbs as tails on dries.

Pinch between your fingers, cut them off the stalk and use them as wings, the same as you would using hair, either upright or along the hook.

Use the tips, still on the stalk, as upright wings on dries.

Use the stripped stalk as the body on flies, as a rib or as the post for a parachute dry.

[Runarsson]

I wouldn't refer to hackles for a #28 and smaller as 'useless'... (but people who have seen this HAVE called me weird http://www.swedneckflyfishing.com/32s.htm :lol:)

Large hackle feathers can be used as body material. Strip the hackle barbs off it and put it in warm water for a while so make it a little softer. Then you wrap it as body. A friend of mine is more or less obsessed with this technique... but his flies are really nice. Take a look at a few of his quill flies here: http://www.danica.com/flytier/ndahlin/ndahlin.htm.

/Nick

[scotfly]

Snip out the tip to leave a "v" and tie it in for beard hackle on wets, or legs on nymphs.

[The General]

Muddler 54 (Mick), see wee bri's post above for the link to the coffee grinder.   When you convince the wife that it is a crucial purchase maybe then
I can borrow it 

Davie

[dseabass]

coffee grinder !!!!!-mmmmmm ---am pretty sure muddler54  has used one of  them before but not for dubbing material   :lol:

[Malcolm]

tiny hackles for hackle point wings

[Black-Don]

Hi Donald, good to hear from you again.


wee bri.......

Thanks Bri.........I'm just back from a recent trip to deepest darkest Peru......Didn't get any fishing done, no computers and I forgot my Blackberry.  :roll:

Joking aside, thanks for all the tips. There's some really interesting stuff there and it'll take me a while to get through it all.

[Scotaidh]

I wouldn't refer to hackles for a #28 and smaller as 'useless'... (but people who have seen this HAVE called me weird http://www.swedneckflyfishing.com/32s.htm :lol:)

Large hackle feathers can be used as body material. Strip the hackle barbs off it and put it in warm water for a while so make it a little softer. Then you wrap it as body. A friend of mine is more or less obsessed with this technique... but his flies are really nice. Take a look at a few of his quill flies here: http://www.danica.com/flytier/ndahlin/ndahlin.htm.

/Nick

http://www.danica.com/flytier/ndahlin/mc_murray_ant.htm

What an imaginative use of a black pudding.