Jungle **** Feathers

[Mwo10mwo]

Hello Everyone,

As a new fly tier, I recently completed the book "Tying the Founding Flies" by Mike Valla. The book was extremely well written and full of information; I enjoyed it a lot and was surprised on how influential the Northeast region of the country was/is on fly tying innovation. I want to tie a few flies in the book, especially the Jassid fly. He mentions Jungle ****, and how it was banned. I have two questions about the jungle ****:

1. Does anyone have any information as to its rarity/ban? As far as I understand it is from a chicken in India that is nearly impossible to raise in a controlled environment.
2. Cheaper alternatives to tie the Jassid with?

Thank you!

 

[sandflyx]

you can grade "B" or "C' necks preatty cheap. they are around. not as rare as they have been in the past. you can use the breast feathers from a starling and add a dot of orange next the the white to make a imitation junglecock feather.

 

[nfrechet]

domesticated jungle c0ck feathers are not banned as far as i know. wild birds probably are

i just bought a neck from here

Items for sale by silvermag | eBay

Shop eBay for great deals from silvermag!

www.ebay.com

google "imitation Jungle ****"

 

[hooker-of-men]

https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/jungle-****-situation/455982#replay

"EDITOR'S NOTE FROM 2022: Jungle fowl are currently being legally raised in captivity in the U.S. and the feathers from these farmed birds can be bought, sold, and used for flies within U.S. borders."

Note that the eBay listings very prominently specify USA

 

[turkey]

I purchased a neck from ebay quite a few years ago and it was of good quality. It's lasted me quite a long time.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

I was one of the 2 authorized importers in PA of jungle **** from India in the early 1970’s when they were banned from importation to protect their declining population at that time. Prior to the ban I paid $4.00 per neck, which included shipping, as I recall. As others have said, domestic raised jungle **** are readily available in the market today.

 

[nfrechet]

https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/jungle-****-situation/455982#replay

"EDITOR'S NOTE FROM 2022: Jungle fowl are currently being legally raised in captivity in the U.S. and the feathers from these farmed birds can be bought, sold, and used for flies within U.S. borders."

Note that the eBay listings very prominently specify USA

and united kingdom

Junglecock Cape for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Junglecock Cape at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[Bamboozle]

Hello Everyone,

As a new fly tier, I recently completed the book "Tying the Founding Flies" by Mike Valla. The book was extremely well written and full of information; I enjoyed it a lot and was surprised on how influential the Northeast region of the country was/is on fly tying innovation. I want to tie a few flies in the book, especially the Jassid fly. He mentions Jungle ****, and how it was banned. I have two questions about the jungle ****:

1. Does anyone have any information as to its rarity/ban? As far as I understand it is from a chicken in India that is nearly impossible to raise in a controlled environment.
2. Cheaper alternatives to tie the Jassid with?

Thank you!

I own several domestically raised jungle c0ck necks. The quality of the necks vary greatly depending on the number of "nails" (the old term for the shiny feathers), the sizes and the number of undesirable split feathers. The splits can be repaired although they WILL split again in use so are best reserved for show flies. The tiniest nails are cute but unless you tie size 24 salmon flies, they are useless.

Whole necks are available but expensive however you can buy packages of a few legal jungle c0ck nails for a reasonable price. There are other feathers that you can substitute, guinea fowl feathers stripped and burned to leave only one white dot or a black and white barred wood duck slip are two examples. Some folks even paint a plain black feather the correct colors.

There are some newer plastic substitutes but I never tried these on a show or fishing fly so I can't recommend for or against.

If you want to tie the Jassid fly in Mike's book it deserves nothing BUT a real junglec0ck feather however be advised as fishing fly, it leaves a bit to be desired. The nail will eventually split destroying the silhouette.

Even though I have a few jungle c0ck Jassids in my box as a tribute to Vince Marinaro who developed the pattern, when I want to fish a Jassid I use one of the patterns I created made with a foam over-back or a plain black version using several hen feathers lacquered together, trimmed narrow and tied in the same way.


Good luck!

 

[Mwo10mwo]

Thank you all for the responses! I will look into the eBay links and maybe start calling some local fly shops to see if they know of any or if they are available.

Here is a Jassid I tied last night with a feather that was gifted to me by a friend, I tied 4 of them and this was the best one! I used Lagartun X-Strong 95D in olive thread, size 20 mustad hook, dry fly grizzly hackle, and then the India **** feather!