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wschmitt3

Peacock Herl

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I put a dab of super glue on the shank and then wrap the herls. Makes them pretty indestructible, or as indestructible as peacock can be. I do the same with pheasant tail fibers, too. Not too much glue that it bleeds completely into the fibers.

 

Joe

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Now I have another question about Peacock Herl. How and where do I get the best quality herl? Should I buy strung herl or whole feathers and who carries the best quality?

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Most all strung herl comes from the same couple of places. Quality can vary from any source, so saying that Jake's Fly Shop has the best may not always be true. Eyed feathers are what you want for stripped quill bodies. There are only a few quills from the eyes that will make good bodies. The sword feathers are use for some tailing, and wings on a few different wet fly patterns.

 

In general, for wrapping herl for bodies, the strung herl will work fine. If your twisting the herl up in around the thread, or in a dubbing loop, which side of the feather it comes from won't matter much. For really small bodies on midges, I use the very finest herl barbs from the eyed feathers.

 

Eventually, you will want to get all three different kinds.

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Thanks utyer,

 

I have some really nice swords for tails and have not yet ventured into making stripped herl bodies. I just got some herl the other day to replenish my supply and I'm really unhappy with it. This is the second time I have gotten really bad quality herl from an online order. The strung herl I have been using the last few months is really nice and came from the same place. I guess I just wish there was a way to consistently get good quality product.

 

 

-Will

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You can make your peacock herl rope a bit stronger by twisting the herls around your tying thread, and then wrapping the whole thing forward, with the thread as a core. Don Ordes demonstrated this technique several years ago. It's a variation of his rope dubbing technique. I've been using it ever since he introduced it in an online article on the old VFB WEB site. It also works with pheasant tail fibers for a more durable pheasant tail nymph.

 

 

This is EXACLY what I do.

 

I've had herl and pheasant tail fibers un-wrap when broken by a fish, if I didn't reinforce them with tying thread or by counter wrapping them with wire.

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Thanks utyer,

 

I have some really nice swords for tails and have not yet ventured into making stripped herl bodies. I just got some herl the other day to replenish my supply and I'm really unhappy with it. This is the second time I have gotten really bad quality herl from an online order. The strung herl I have been using the last few months is really nice and came from the same place. I guess I just wish there was a way to consistently get good quality product.

 

 

-Will

I've never bought herl from a fly shop I just go by hobby lobby. There I can go through the eye sticks in person and choose which one I want.

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To make a more durable peacock herl fly body,attach two pieces of peacock and one length of very thin gold wire to the hook. I do not wrap the herl like a rope, but I do wrap the wire around the peacock. Depending on the size of the fly about four revolutions per inch of herl is a good place to start. It looks great when wet. It also looks better wrapped together rather than just ribbing the peacock.

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I have always tied my herl in by the butt end rather than the tip in most cases as it is easier to get it oriented properly on the hook shank and will counter wind the herl if that is the direction that is needed to make the longer fibers stick up and then rib the body in what ever is the oppisite direction to what I wound the herl. When I was a boy and trying to learn this craft, there was no internet and damn few books available in Detroit Mich. I did find one very basic little book but for the most part was self taught. The main reason that I peferred to tie the herl in by the butt end is that the fibers stay neater as I wound the herl as my fingers would not be pushing the fibers against their natural grain. Find what works best for you.

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I have always found the best herl that I like, fat and robust, right below the eye, getting about 10-12 herls either side of the rachis (stem). A while back I bought a 50 pack of eyes from ebay (china), some of the eyes were better than any I've bought at my local fly shop. I paid less than 10 bucks. The eyes came 5 to a pack in a nice plastic resealable bag. The purchase was a test run for me and thinking back I should have bought 100 pcs.


I wouldn't rate all the eyes I got as prime but I was surprised that the majority were what I was looking for.


100 pcs. will set you back < $15 bucks. Look for free shipping. What you will get is the top 10 to 12 inches of the eye, and that was fine by me. The rest of the herl on those feathers gets sold as strung herl and I have bags of strung herl which I bought over the years and simply don't use.





$13.15 gonna hurt ya ?


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Thanks for the suggestion Hairwing.

 

I have considered purchasing the peacock eyes in bulk like that before but was unsure about what kind of quality I would end up with so never pulled the trigger. I'll give it a try.

 

Thanks,

 

-Will

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one thing to remember that whatever you buy be it strung herl or eye sticks not every herl is going to be perfect

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I understand that and expect that. I was just really disappointed by the strung herl I got this time and one of the packages I got a few months ago. I would say that less than 50% of the strands are what I would even consider using and sorting through is a pain in the rear. I felt like I was going through the lesson I learned with Hungarian Partridge all over again. I suspect, and correct me if I'm wrong, that will be easier to identify the good strands on an eye stick than strung.

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