Tying with American Coot aka the "Mudhen"

[BigDaddyHub 0]

Waterfowl season is in full swing here in the Bluegrass. Harvested a few mudhens (American Coots) yesterday. They have wonderful feathers that are very similar to the very tips of chicken marabou. Great dusty grey color. Anyone ever use coot before?

[flytire 0]

i'm sure theres a few soft hackles out there tied with it!

[rockworm 0]

The small feathers along the edge of the coot's wing (marginal coverts) make excellent collars for North Country flies such as the Dark Watchet, Iron Blue Dun and the Black Spider. The wing primaries and secondaries can be used for making wings.

 

[MowestFlyfisher 0]

they make a good stew

[narcodog 0]

Coot makes awesome s/h's.

[BigDaddyHub 0]

I was thinking soft hackle ties. Going to sit down with the peltstonight and take a really good look at the rest of th feathers. Very supple and soft stems. And, of course, the little guys do make a nice stew! LOL!

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

the wings are great for wet fly wings by the way welcome back among the living

[JSzymczyk 0]

I caught a couple coots at Lake Mead in the 90's while fishing for stripers with shad. The darn things would dive down 10-12 feet and grab my bait, and I'd end up hooking them in the beak or in the throat. Everyone I ever talked to said they were inedible unless you were starving. ?? :dunno:

 

"HARVEST" coots? You know I love you, man, but that whole PC "HARVEST" word always kind of rubs me the wrong way. On rare occasions, I KILL game, birds, and fish. I always feel a little sad and very respectful for being given the opportunity to take a life and use the various parts of the creature for food and flies. "HARVEST" to me is for tomatoes, raspberries, maybe even animals if they have been raised by people specifically for food. I know I'm off-topic.

 

 

[BigDaddyHub 0]

Actually, much to my enlightenment, the mudhen is very tasty. We only eat the breast and legs. Soak it in an equal parts solution of white vinegar and water for 6 hours, season to your desire, bake for 20 minutes at 375 and you're ready to eat. Is just a little more "hardy" than dove, but Minihub wolfed it down like he was starving. I seasoned it with a little celery seed and sauted green onions, covered in peppered margarine.

 

Wet wings (nice idea, Paul. Good to have a little time to get back on the board) and soft hackles....great starting places. Any other suggestions?

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

not sure about the length on the tail fibers but sometimes they are long enough to tie knots in for hopper legs

[buggybob 0]

There's a few feathers on a coot big enough to use as small spey hackles.

[JSzymczyk 0]

good to hear they're edible AND have good tying materials.

[Jeremy Parker 0]

Wow!!

 

Surprised nobody mentioned the oil gland feathers??

 

I love to tie dry flies with them!!

 

Hey Bigdadyhub try soaking your mudhen in Italian dressing them BBQ them my clan can't get enough of them!!!

 

I'm a waterfowler too and get all my feathers from here for flies Woodduck,mallard snowgoose etc saves me a lot of money and some good eats for the family too!!! Endless supply of classic fly materials bronze shoulders just to start??? Wonder why I have guys that tye classic's as friends????

 

Blessings,

[BigDaddyHub 0]

I know what you mean, Mr Parker. I eyeballed several wood ducks this weekend but the little buggers hugged the water like they were glued to it. Maybe this weekend....temps are going to be milder.....Oil gland feathers...a great tip!

[Steve P 0]

I always try to have a couple fresh skins harvested for me every year for softhackles.... would like to see the winged wets though sounds interesting.

 

Steve