Coloring feathers

[trouthunting]

I started tying sometime in December. In the past three months alone I've spent somewhere around $300 in materials and that bill keeps growing while I have a bunch of unused feathers of all sorts.

I find that I have the same materials (rooster hackle, capes, marabou, etc...) in multiple colors and this is where I keep spending money.

Is there a good, simple and cheap way to color feathers so that I don't have to keep buying different colors? I've looked into dying a bit...is there another way?

Any advice/experience on methods of changing color would be most appreciated!

*I have a TON of cream colored hen neck feathers and "blue dun" hackle

 

[tomgamber]

I'd just say shop for smaller quantities. You can buy a whole dry fly neck (50-80 bucks) or buy the Whiting 100s (8-15 bucks) in specific sizes and colors which give a dozen or so strands that will make you just under 100 flies. Store everything in air tight containers. Trust me you'll use them again. If for some reason you stop tying and sell it all...they'll be buyers. I have stuff 20 years old.

 

[afishinado]

Pantone pens, or better yet a cheap set of earth tone colored Sharpies bought from Wally Word. Coloring feathers only works so so on dry hackle since tends to matt the feather down a bit, it's okay for wets and nymphs though. But if you buy white or light colored material, you can save from not having to buy every color under the sun by coloring the material with a permanent marker. Things like thread, foam, even some dubbing, thin skin for wing cases (just use a clear plastic bag), larva lace, etc., all color well with a pen. As a bonus you can also create different mottled or stripped effects, or just color the top or bottom of the fly, put hot spots on it, etc., etc., etc......you get the idea.

I actually carry a set of permanent marker in my vest and color light colored flies to match the hatch when I don't have the right colored fly with me. My med olive pen can turn a sulpher into a BWO in seconds! Infact, I like the one I colored better, and so do the fish...the real experts!

 

[MKern]

Tom has a great point about smaller quantities.

It's better to have a little everything, than very little.

Coloring with markers, or even dyes, can drastically change the marterial you are working with. Certain materials will accept colors, certain will ruin because of the markers.

Streamer materials (ghost fiber, psuedo hair), thread, and soft hackle feather are okay to touch with a marker.

The 3 most expensive materials (hooks, dry fly hackle, and beads) can't be colored with a marker, so you are going to always have that cost.

However, get used to buying a lot of materials if you really like tying and want to tie everything. Accumulate stuff over time, and encourage family members to get you gift certificates for b-days and x-mas presents -- this will lighten your load.

 

[Xavier_Molina]

I have used Koolaid to color feathers and furs and works good

 

[gzacckey]

trouthunting,

I like the answers you’ve received so far. I went through the same process and found the advice given here to be very helpful. I also like the Metz multi-packs for their value and selection. I prioritized my purchases based on what I fished the most. I still buy some flies that I only use occasionally if they use expensive materials that I don’t already have.

Also, you can look for substitutes or close matches. Just ask people on this or other forums for their favorite version of whatever pattern(s) you are tying and you’ll see a fair amount of variance in materials.

Another option is to swap materials with other tyers. Splitting capes or that 500 yard spool of yarn from wally world can do wonders for your inevitable storage issues while increasing your inventory at the same time.

 

[trouthunting]

thanks for the advice, guys! I'll give the markers a shot. As for building a stock of tying materials, I'm planning on that in the coming months and even years.

We both had to start fresh when we moved down here in June. We had no TV, no furniture, no work clothes...for the first two weeks we sat on cardboard boxes and ate take out chinese watching the sliding glass door, lol.

As you can imagine, buying furniture, cooking supplies, a TV, dishes, and literally everything all the way down to spatulas and a vacuum cleaner, gets expensive very fast. That combined with needing a new car (old one died a month after moving) paying student loans and rent, there hasn't been too much space for free time expenses. That's the only reason we haven't dumped more cash into tying materials; I'm not just trying to take the cheap way out!


On a side note...living an adult life was a rough transition for two poor-as-dirt college grads!

 

[dryflyguy]

I've always used Rit or Tintex fabric dye - they have it Wally World - used to be a buck, but I haven't bought any lately.

Xavier - I never thought about trying koolaid. I dye a lot of things gray - what flavor would that be?