coq de leon feathers

[horses50]

I am told its the spanish ones i want,i have a couple of quick questions,what colour do i need for tails?[dark medium light] and where do i get them from? thank you.

[christy27]

I like Flor de Escoba but any of the other colours will be ok. Go to Flytying Boutique site and click natural materials, page 2 I think. There are pics of the colours. Hth.

Chris.

[arkle]

Colours are not going to be that critical, as virtually all of them appear as either translucent or black when in the light is above them.

[horses50]

Thanks for the replies,so colour is not really an issue, thank god for that i thought i was going to have to buy a whole raft of colours Are there any other applications the feather could be used for other than just tails. thank you .

[shpeil]

Davie McPhail uses them for a skater pattern:

‪Tying the Skater (Dry Fly) with Davie McPhail.‬‏ - YouTube

My question - the stuff you use for tails... which feather is that? Cape? Saddle? The small packets you can buy seem hugely expensive when you consider the price of a whiting rooster coq de leon saddle... But maybe its something to do with the country of origin of the bird and Spanish stuff being considered superior. Any ideas?

Cheers

Neil

[horses50]

just watched the vid on youtube one expensive fly.From what i can gather the spanish are better feathers.

[arkle]

The Spanish ones are the original & real thing, They only grow to be the way they are through being at a high altitude & having certain minerals, which are naturally occurring as part of their diet. The feathers have been used for many generations & the birds are highly prized, a bit like racing pigeons.

[bill1]

Originally Posted by arkle

The Spanish ones are the original & real thing, They only grow to be the way they are through being at a high altitude & having certain minerals, which are naturally occurring as part of their diet. The feathers have been used for many generations & the birds are highly prized, a bit like racing pigeons.

So are they used more in tying when tying a fly as a piece of craftsmanship rather than any real advantage when fishing?

[flytier07]

The feathers look very pretty, make wonderful tails and can also be used as hackles, but I don't think anyone has ever checked to see if they catch any better than usual cock hackles which cost a lot less.

[bill1]

Originally Posted by flytier07

The feathers look very pretty, make wonderful tails and can also be used as hackles, but I don't think anyone has ever checked to see if they catch any better than usual cock hackles which cost a lot less.

I see. Another one for the list of things that I don't actually need but will probably buy anyway.