Duck Wings & Goose Wings

[Frank G. Swarner III 0]

A buddy gave me a bunch of goose wings and some wings from various species of ducks. What's the best way to dry them out? Borax or hang'em up outside till they dry out?

 

Also, some of them are kind of dirty. What's a good way to clean them?

 

Fish-N-Chip

[Guest]

Chip,

 

i prepare the wings and feathers of birds much like I do any other hides....If you mist the feathers with water, and use a soft bristled brush, you can almost always remove any dirt from the feathers. I usally salt any raw stumps and allow them to dry the same way I do tails. I would encourage you to , first, put the wings in the freezer to kill any bird lice or feather mites that may still be living in the feathers. After a few days, the wings will be ready for further processing...Wings are typically very easy to dry, as the wings do not have much visceral tissue and hollow bones....During the winter, I simply stretch the wing in a "flight" shape and place them outside in varmit proof box (a shed, gorage, or even on a high air conditioner will work as well). They dry quickly and are ready to use in no time...just remember, when trying to clean any blood, dirt, or debris from the fethers, work slowly and WITH the grain of the feather....if you hurry the job or use too much force, you can ruin a perfect wing quickly!

 

Be sure that your wings are clean and critter free....this is very important any time you are harvesting your own materials...any bugs or mites left in the fibers can quickly ruin every thing in your tying box!!

[Frank G. Swarner III 0]

Thanks for the help BDH. Alot of useful tips that I never would of thought about. Now I know there gonna look great.

 

You can only get great information like this on the Fly Tying Forum.

 

Thank You Very Much,

Chip

[dabalone 0]

What ducks are useful for tying, and what feathers from the birds would you use. I get blue and greenwing teal, pintail, mallard, gadwall, woodduck, mallard, widgeon, redhead, and the occasional canvas back. I have read duck feathers are oily, is that a problem?

[Frank G. Swarner III 0]

There all very, very useful. Depending on what you like to tie, different feathers from different areas of each bird can be used for different things.

 

You can use the feathers on the front of the wings. They look similar to a feather from a hen back. Good for soft hackle wet flies, nymph legs, dry fly wings, etc.. The primary(?) wing feathers have biots on the front edge. Duck Biots. The fibers on the other side can be used for wingcases. Duck quill feathers also have many uses

 

If you have a whole body, the flank barred flank feathers from all the birds can be used for atlantic salmon flies, spey flies, traditional wets, etc...

 

CDC feathers are at the butt of the duck. Have fun cleaning them I've never done it. Maybe its not that bad.

 

A book could be wrote on all the diferent uses and types of flies. As far as fly tying goes you have a goldmine!!

 

Good luck with it all,

Chip

 

 

 

 

 

[dabalone 0]

Thanks Chip,

It was at the end of our duck season that I decided to begin learning to tie flys and my son saved some from his last couple trips out. I have wings and assorted feathers frozen in ziploc bags. I am only tying a few patterns and I have what I need for them, I am willing to share what I have when I get them sorted out.

[Guest]

QUOTE (dabalone @ Mar 12 2004, 08:20 PM)

What ducks are useful for tying, and what feathers from the birds would you use. I get blue and greenwing teal, pintail, mallard, gadwall, woodduck, mallard, widgeon, redhead, and the occasional canvas back. I have read duck feathers are oily, is that a problem?

Here we go again- another guy to be jealous of 'cuz he's got all these great feathers to work with!!! SHEESH!!!