To tie or not to tie

[osprey]

The locals here call the pilleated (sp?) woodpecker an "Indian Hen" is that what you mean by "Indian Crow" the bright red feathers in the crest were supposedly used for many patterns. I'm not sure if these woodpeckers are still protected or not but they seem to be very plentiful around here

 

[gfen]

osprey wrote:
The locals here call the pilleated (sp?) woodpecker an "Indian Hen" is that what you mean by "Indian Crow" the bright red feathers in the crest were supposedly used for many patterns. I'm not sure if these woodpeckers are still protected or not but they seem to be very plentiful around here

http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/mac2e/Pages/IndianCrow/Indian_Crow.html

 

[Tups]

Fred and Gfen: I had a feeling you guys were freelancing with the crow feathers. I can't think of any traditional soft hackle or other patterns which call for crow, but the ubiquitous nature of black hen may explain why crow was not used. When it comes to soft hackles, I also use alot of substitutes. Not familiar with prince gnat.

By the way, Osprey, pileated woodpeckers are protected by state and federal law. I was not aware that pileated w.p. feathers were ever used for flies, but I'm not surprised that they may have been used locally. It would be interesting to hear about those patterns. Can you give any details?

 

[gfen]

I'm convinced there's not a bird alive that hasn't found its way into full dress salmon flies.

 

[sandfly]

Crow primarys are great for wet fly wings and fred knows what happens when you bleach out black feathers and fur now. We did some here and came up with some interesting colors..