Hi, my first post here. A renewed interest in fly tying (I started when a teen in the 1950's....still use a Thompson A vice, with inserts for midges) led me to marabou streamers. Great feathers, marabou, except for their tendency to bleed one color into another. Especially red into white, but other colors as well like green and black.
So my first question is: are there sources of marabou that have less of this tendency to bleed?
Second question is similar: are there reliable sources of marabou that have the long feathers needed for streamers? I'm not certain if those would be blood marabou or plume marabou, and help with those terms would also be appreciated. I tie more streamers than woolly buggers, and have noticed that some feathers in the packages I've bought at LL Beans (I live in Maine) have almost no rachis (stem) and I can feel OK with tying in the whole feather. With other feathers from the same bag I use just the longer barbs.
I have had some success in reducing the amount of bleeding by soaking the marabou in water, changing the water three or four times until it begins to clear, then adding a glug of white vinegar to the last rinse. Acetic acid is reported as being a fixative for dye on feathers. Whether that works in this case or not is moot. Black, yellow, and barred green/black bleed much less after rinsing, but red still pinks up any white feathers. OK I guess because I can use red non-soluble markers to add red here and there.
Any suggestions appreciated, and thanks in advance,
BAB
