hungarian partridge hackle

[troutchaser30 0]

I like to collar some of my nymphs (pheasant tails, olive hare's ear patterns and even princes on occasion) with soft hungarian partridge hackles. most of my go-to subsurface patterns are in the size 14-18 range. i find that the vast majority of soft hackles in the package are far too big for the sizes that i'm tying and fishing. do i need to purchase a full partridge skin in order to obtain good number of the smaller hackles or is there another source for them? i can't hit the broad side of barn, so hunting partridge and grouse is out of the question....help! thanks.

[newfie 0]

if i ever get to go for some grouse this season, ill send you some smaller hackles. ill pm you if i get any

[fcflyguy 0]

Try useing a starling they work great for that

and the cost is not very muchFC

[troutchaser30 0]

thanks guys!

[troutguy 0]

EBAY

 

 

You can get a full skin for 15. Also look for Bob White or other quail for smaller hackle. I get starlings on eBay for $3. Besides spruce grouse, you can get sharp trailed grouse, a whole host of quail and my favorite ruffed grouse.

 

Good luck.

[Hardyhead 0]

 

I use woodcock for this, the birds are small, the feathers are nice shades of brown, black, and grey, and the birds are legal to hunt (and kinda tasty). The only trouble I have with woodcock feathers is the stems are fairly weak, but I would venture that they are not much weaker than partridge.

 

Good luck in your search.

[sandflyx 0]

I use hen backs when I run low on other stuff, look for a good mottled color. Now I'm raising a few of my own so I have an endless suppy of hen backs and eggs...

[Frank G. Swarner III 0]

If you get a skin, try to find one with the head still attached. Lots of small feathers on the neck and you can find some on the shoulders of the wings.

[troutchaser30 0]

good suggestions...and just in time to add to my list to Santa.

[Soft-hackle 0]

Hi,

You can also substitute Brahma hen for partridge as well as grouse or woodcock. There are some pen-raised smaller partridge skins available that will provide smaller hackles.

 

Mark

[flytire 0]

The Whiting Brahma Hen necks/saddles are a good substitute.

[ted patlen 0]

here is a method i like to use for collars, legs etc.

 

find a feather you'd like to use that has much longer fibers than you need

stripp some feather fibers off the stem,...the amount should be how much you wish to "distribute" around the hook shank...cut it to length...place it onto the fly in it's tie in spot and give it 2 turns of well waxed thread around the butts..all the fibers are gathered together in one space...to distribute them around the shank push down onto the bundle with a thumb nail and spread the fibers around the 360 degrees of the hook...the thread should be tight enough to hold the fibers in place as they are manipulated around the shank

 

it is a very simple method that works equally as well when tying in legs under the bottom of a hook for nymphs , emergers, throat hackles on wets etc. AND bucktail "hackles" for large flies salt water stuff, flat wings, etc

 

 

practice on a plain shank...been using it for years.. works great, no flimsey weak stems or wasted time looking for the correct sizes of feathers

[beadhead 0]

Sandy

Who is fertilizing your hens ? :dunno:

[Hairstacker 0]

Ted, I follow a similar approach for using out-sized hackles. I take the feather, lay it length-wise on the shank of the hook, and then measure how much of the feather tip is equal to the length of the hook. I then cut this amount of feather tip off, leaving a "V" shaped end to the feather. I then strip off all other barbs that I don't want to put on the hook. I then fold the remaining "V" of barbs over the hook and spin it around, thus creating a nice wet fly-tyle hackle job. This approach will allow you to tie wet flies with feathers regardless if they're too big. Thus, you will find another use for all those irridescent body feathers you find on full pheasant skins and what-not.

 

Found this technique featured by a professional tyer in a back-issue of FlyFisherman magazine. He was faced with a large order and not enough correctly-sized partridge feathers to fill it. Over the course of an evening spent with his vise and a few beers, he came up with this technique. I've been using this technique ever since and, as a result, don't bother with searching for "small hackles" of any type for wet flies.

 

-- Mike

[maddog48 0]

Just my nickel's worth but here goes. IMHO you're much better off buying partridge still on the skin. You get a poor selection of feathers buying them pre-packaged. I have also heard (and read) that even though the bird is long "expired", the skin retains oil so the hackle stem is softer and more pliable. That makes it wrap easier. I know in some cases the skins are expensive, but in the long run, it's much cheaper to by the skin .. mostly based on useable feathers.

 

 

Mike