Peacock Feathers and How I select the Best Quills

[holyworrier]

I'm heading to HObby Lobby. I've bought large feathers before, but I had no knowledge of this eye-thing. Thanks, Davie, for showing us where and how to recognize the good ones.

[FlyTyer]

Peacock eyes are such a vital fly tying material & beautiful as well. Interesting topic.

[vesas]

Good info. I bought a bunch of 50 feathers a while ago. When they arrived they were very tightly packed and the fine herl was "squashed", so I steamed them and now they look great. Much better quality than you get when buying a pack of herl from a "fly tying brand". I keep them on my desk in a flower vase where it's easy to select a right-sized herl for the fly I'm tying.

[jorgearaujoflyfishing]

Many thanks Davie. Very good advices por select the right ones.

[georgeb]

Very helpful info Davie, some angling shops are taking 2 pounds per feather, bulk is the way to go.

[crs]

Great video Davie. Thanks for that. One problem I am having is dying bleached deer hair. I have been buying patches of bleached deer hair and trying to dye them Flo-red (from veniards) and claret (using scarlet/black dye mix from veniards) with absolutely zero success. Flo red came out orange and fell apart and claret came out dark brown. Next time you're doing a dying video it would be good if you could show us all how to do deer hair with a difficult colour like WOIGO, Flo-red or claret. Thanks for the tips. 👍👏🎣

[kerrypitt]

Buying in a large amount is great except most places that will sell peacock tail feathers, it is hard to find good quality. There is a tyer from Japan who uses the longer pieces from the sword, as a wrap. There are only two to four on the sword that are long enough, but they look good!! Thanks for this video Davie!

[davidayton]

Hi Davie, another great video - thank you ! Can you help me with what you would suggest is best winging material for the royal wulff? I prefer the calf body hair fibre but it is difficult to source a patch with long enough hair. Can you suggest best source please?

[markburnett]

Davie there's a company in New Zealand called Feathergirl that sells all sorts of feathers. Their Peacock eye feathers (extra long) retail at $NZ100 for 100 feathers which is about 50 quid. Not sure how much they charge for postage but might be worth checking out.

[BrentJonesFlyTying]

Do you dye them before or after bleaching? Or does it matter?

[grahamwebb]

How do you prepare squirrel tail ready to go on to the thread? Because the hair on the tail is quite long.

[richardc]

Can you explain the difference between quills and hurls as to when to use them in tying a fly. I was under the impression that the quill was the main stem that all the hurls were attached and the eye was just part of the hurls. There is a noticeable difference in both parts.👍👨‍🦳🇨🇦

[ibelieve]

Hi Davie do you put them in the freezer when you first get them to kill any bugs?

[andersbenton]

How are you attaching the hurls into bunches?

[billybrown]

Hi Davie fo you happen to sell boxes of flies?