Ostrich herl in larger streamers

[robow7 0]

I've never used Ostrich Herl in my bass streamers before but I'm sure it must look sexy as it slithers though the water, but just how fragile is it ?  I mean is it something that can withstand a 20 smallmouth day, a 30 smallmouth day, 40 or more ?  just curious as to your experiences because I would like to tie some various baitfish patterns up but don't want to be forced to change my fly every few fish (though I do change colors and patterns all day long anyway... Ha)  

As always, thank you for your input. 

[richmce 0]

murrys hellgramite  uses it for the tail. ive seen some saltwater snook flies that use it as well. durability i cant personally say

[Philly 0]

I don't use it as a wing on my bass flies.  I don't trust the durability.  Granted it's tougher than peacock herl,  based on how some trout flies looked after a couple of trout, though trout have teeth.  Never lip a trout.  I do use it as a thorax on some of my pan fish flies, but I twist it with a loop of thread to increase durability 

[Mark Knapp 0]

No, it will likely get torn up pretty quickly but, will it matter? The fly will look sexy to start with and the herl will go away first but the fly will still likely keep producing until the rest of the fly gets used up a bit. But 20 bass, probably not.

[Noahguide 0]

I for one would be happy to tie a new fly on every 20-40 small mouth or so.  I can tie a lot of flies and wish that math would be the case every time I went out!

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Used ostrich many years ago - but only a few times… looks like a great material for larger flies - but doesn’t actually provide much of a benefit when it’s wet in my world… I still use peacock herl for really big deceivers (the Southern Deceiver in size 4/0…) and for the Big Eye Bendback.  In recent years, when I was filling orders for shops, not much call for the peacock either - but remember, all of my efforts were for the salt…

Now that I’ve added peacock bass to my charters I may start using some of that peacock herl  again.  I tend to buy in bulk so I probably have a lifetime supply of strung peacock if I choose to use it…

[vicrider 0]

I don't know about ostrich but I'm not sure my heart would stand up to a 40 smallmouth day.

[robow7 0]

The reason I brought this question up is I seem to be seeing a lot more ostrich used recently on these larger streamers.  It always seemed pretty fragile to me and wasn't sure if after only a fish or two, I would be left with a larger baitfish pattern without a tail.  Yea, a 40 fish day is not unheard of but realize most by far will be dinks, less than 14".  If those little buggers are tearing up the tail, it's a no go for me.  Craft fur and bucktail hold up nicely on a good day and only 2 or 3 flies might be needed. 

Btw, do you have any specific name brand synthetic fibers  that you feel are long enough and also move at least as well as good Craft Fur in the water in order to produce larger baitfish patterns such as Hollow Fleyes and Bulkheads.  EP fibers and such are just too stiff for many of my uses.  Again, thank your for your ideas. 

[ScienceGuy141 0]

It's hard to stay up-to-date on all the synthetics with how many there are, but Gunnar Brammer ties a lot of larger baitfish patterns and I know he has mentioned squimpish hair, strung fuzzy fiber, and big fly fiber on his website and in his YouTube videos. 

[johnnyquahog 0]

Bob Popovics patterns often incorporate ostrich.  These are larger flies, lets say 6” to 16”. His hollow deceiver, reverse hollow deceiver, bulkhead deceiver and beast fleyes may have long strands, the longer the better of ostrich tied in with the bucktail.  Jason Taylor is just one of several tyers working with ostrich on YouTube.  I’m thinking Gunnar Brammer has ostrich in some of his Popovics style flies as well.  Ostrich just comes alive in the water.  I have no doubt that you could catch a couple dozen striped bass on one of these patterns and still have some beat up ostrich attached to the hook.  On the other hand, one or two blue fish might ruin it.  Good ostrich in long lengths is expensive and so is long, greater than 5” bucktail. Look at some of Gunnar’s recent videos on thread control and bucktail.  These larger bait fish patterns use a technique that works best with the hair that flairs found on the lower 40% of the bucktail.     If you want to go the synthetic route then you may want to check out Jonny King’s kinky muddler.  Just my peanut gallery observations.

[FliesbyNight 0]

Robow7,

In my experience, your suspicion is correct, ostrich herl is very sexy in the water but it does not hold up to fish, toothy or not. Stripers will tear it up as easily as bluefish.

I use it in only one pattern anymore, Tabory's Snake Fly, as it is the material he used in the original.  I do not use it every time because it does break after a few fish. Now, I use flatwing-style hackle tied vertically instead of flat. I am saltwater only, so I cannot speak to freshwater applications. 

It continues to work when drifted or sitting still.  It's worth using but there are better materials if you want durable flies. Speaking for myself, I see flies as consumables so I am not overly concerned with durability.  If a fly lasts 4-6 fish, I am happy.