Spey feathers?

[Willie Bodger]

So, on birds from which we get spey feathers (heron, blue-eared pheasant etc.), where do the better hackle feathers generally come from, neck, throat, body, wing, rump? Just curious.

[Kevin Giusti]

Hey Willie. On ringneck pheasant the best spey hackles are on the rump. Blue Eared are covered all over with good feathers from the rump on up. The largest starting on the rump and gradually getting smaller as you work your way up. Large duck flank feathers from teal and others also work well although the large ones are fewer and hard to come by unless you know a duck hunter. I use ringneck alot. The brown really looks good in the water with like purple, red and black. You will see on the deep purple spey you get of mine through our classic/original swap. I used to buy blue eared in the ten for a dozen packs but recently purchased a full skin and do not regret it AT ALL! The amount of feathers you get and the variety of different sizes makes it a very good investment if you plan on using a lot of spey hackle. A good skin will keep you busy for a LONG time. I got mine from John McLane at Feathersmc. A great price and a top grade skin I must say and John is a great guy to. Anyway hopes this helps. Kevin

[Willie Bodger]

Sweet, thanks for the info! Now, what is it about Heron that makes (made) it so great to use? And is it like the BEP, tail and back feathers?

[Kevin Giusti]

Willie the thing about heron hackle from what Ive read is that the fibers are super long and the usable fibers extend much further down the rachis ( stem?) of the feather. This would allow you to tie large patterns and get many wraps out of each feather. Blue eared and ringneck have a much shorter sweet spot of usable fibers. 3-4 wraps on like a 1/0 hook and your doing pretty good. You can compensate by starting the hackle mid body or by using two feathers. On most of my speys I start mid body and strip one side of the feather. If its a good feather with a good sweet spot it makes it all the way. If not I will just tie in another and take a couple wraps at the collar to fill it in. I like to strip one side as for fishing flies to full a hackle will cause the fly to ride upside down. Sometimes less is more as they say. If you get a chance check out John Sheweys book spey and dee flies. He explains the different hackles as well as different ways to tie and wrap them. Bob Veverkas book is also really good. I learned alot from both. Ive seen one heron feather up close and must say it was pretty awesome looking. Not really sure what part of the bird the hackles come from. But getting thrown in the poky for some feathers doesnt sound to good. You know what I have been using some lately is Schlappen Hackle. Its a little bulkier than blue eared but you can wrap a whole body with it and it has a pretty nice look to it in the water. Definatley strip one side though. Hope this helps Kevin

[yuhina]

Great information, Kevin!
I have similar questions and know all clear.

Thanks,

[yuhina]

Great blue heron picture and neck feather from museum.

[Kevin Giusti]

Cool pics Yuhina. They sure are a cool looking bird. So looks like the neck feathers are one area where the feathers would work. Now you sure those are in a museum. HA HA HA HA. Kevin

[yuhina]

Ha ha...... Good guess...
But this is true museum feather... got to draw a line between job and hobby...
I wish somebody could breed them in cavitivies though, they are not really rare species in any means...

[Big Tuna]

I thought heron was illegal?

[Willie Bodger]

It is illegal without proper documentation to have the feathers (or something like that), but I'm still curious. Just trying to figure out if there is another source (as if everybody else hasn't already been doing that) for feathers that act the same that don't cost an arm and a leg.

[yuhina]

Heron is protected for sure, as well as blue-eared pheasant in China, an endangered species. The trade are regulated by CITES. I am not sure how the law regulated in US for the capative breed blue-eared pheasant (a substitute for heron feather)... In the wild habitat, the blue-eared pheasant are more highly threatened than blue heron, but the heron's feather have high demand in the market... so I think that's why it is no longer legal to keep the feather... BTW, starling and crows are not on the protected list, to my knowledge.

[yuhina]

Just want to clear this a little bit... the feather Posted is belong to University museum... not me... UNFORTUNATELY...
I handle a lot of dead bird with students, some of them are amazing ... but all parts are belong to university, none of them can be in my flybox : (

[halcyon]

Crows are protected as "non-web footed migratory birds" under the migratory bird act. However, if they are harvested during a legal hunting season they can be used by the hunter for his personal tying but not sold nor the flies tied with them sold. In addition, like ducks, the feathers that are legally harvested can only be legally used for fly tying and not for adorning clothing like hats. Strange but true:eek:

Regards,