What to do with some feathers

[Wally Bear 0]

When I was getting set up, I told the owner of the shop that I wanted to start out tying wooly buggers and soft hackle flies. He set me up with the basics and I have been really happy so far with one exception. He sold me this bag of Hungarian Partridge feathers that seem more like the sweepings off the floor than anything usable. It is all supper tiny and downy like feathers.

 

I am sure that because of my inexperience I just do not know what I am looking at. What do I use these for? Thanks.

[Dustin Guyette 0]

yes, they are supposed to be small feathers.

 

you can use them to tie flies like the "partridge and orange" soft hackle

[narcodog 0]

HP's are probably the most used feathers in s/h's. They will usually not wrap like you would a w/b. Do a search on partridge and orange and you will see what style fly they are used on.

[Wally Bear 0]

forums like this are so helpful. thank you for the help.

[JohnP 0]

As others have noted, Hungarian partridge are great feathers for soft hackle style flies. The bagged feathers do contain a high percentage of useless material. Eventually, if you really get in to that style of fly, you will want to purchase an entire skin. If you are a hunter or have friends who hunt, you can get skins that way. Also, you can usually find them for around $15. If you need any more help, feel free to shoot me a PM.

[Voodoo 0]

arg! i was pissed when i picked up my first bad and it was all fluff and un usable scrap. The pelt is the way to go.

[snowranch 0]

A good partridge skin is worth the money you pay for it, it will tie hundreds of flies. Partridge is used for much more than just soft hackles. The feather fibers are used for legs and tails of many nymph patterns as well as backs on mayfly patterns. You'll need the different sized feathers found on the whole skin.