In the last few years, there’s been a lof of buzz around fishing blue-colored flies. A while ago, I tried to incorporate blue into a tenkara pattern I called the Ninja’s Victim. The blue wire body and starling hackle seemed to work well but I’m always looking for new ways to use unique materials in my tenkara flies and wanted to try something a little more exotic.
It occurred to me that jay feathers might make interesting hackle for two reasons: they’re deeply barred which would give nice variegation and…well…they’re blue! So, I gave it a try.
The result was beautiful with a tri-color grizzly effect of blue, black, and white in the fibers. I can see lots of possibilities for color combinations with the thread body.
European (or Eurasian) jay feathers aren’t really “hackle” per se. They’re wing feathers usually used in larger classic atlantic salmon patterns for accents and collars. One thing to note is that the stems on these feathers have a quick taper and get thick fast. So when tying them in, you have to get as much of the thinner tip of the stem in as you can otherwise the thick butt of the stem could create an unwanted lump in the body of the fly.
Very, very beautiful fly! Blue Jays feathers are some I commonly find when hiking, and I know I have a couple lying around here but haven’t yet used them.
I think one option may also be to split the stem of the feather in half (mostly make a thin cut and pull the sides apart or just make the cut with a razor). I also think it goes with the spirit of original anglers that used feathers they found.
Thanks Daniel. I like what you said about the tradition of using found feathers. Unfortunately, we don’t live in those times any more and bureaucracy has made it illegal to be in possession of certain types of feather even if you didn’t hunt them (see Loften’s comment below).
To everyone: if you tie with jay feathers, make sure you buy them from a legal source. Being found in possession of the “wrong” types of feather or fur can carry some steep fines and even jail time!
Daniel, you may not want to pick up bluejay feathers on your hike. It is illegal to be in possession of any feathers of birds that there is no hunting season for (ex American bluejays). There are severe fines and even jailtime involved if caught. What jason was using was the European epuivelant of the American bluejay which is legal to have.
Nice fly! Even Nicer pic! What’s your setup?
Damn that is sexy. I want it.
How many flies can you get out of a feather?
Pretty much one fly per feather
I just bought a lot of these feathers. I was actually thinking of making a dubbingloop and make a hackle as you do with for example cdc.That way you can probably get two or three flies out of one feather. But how is the action of the fibres? is it a stif hackle or does it behave like partridge?