Shuttlecock proportions ??

sweenytodd · #1 (**permalink**) 18-01-2010, 09:35 AM

Can someone help please and tell me what the proportions should be on a Shuttlecock ? Does it matter ?? Is it a case of use the ammount of plume you need to make it float or are there set rules

I have no idea as I have never fished one and only ever seen a couple in the flesh .
I tied this one and gave it a dose of floatant and it looked ok when I threw it in some water

Cheers for replies

Wee Jimmy · #2 (**permalink**) 18-01-2010, 09:52 AM

A lot depends on the quality of the plumes Danny,coupled with how much of the feather is left protruding over past the eye.
Personally I prefer the tufts as short as possible so I tend to use extra feathers to provide the bouyancy.
As a rough guide,three or four cdc feathers for a size 14 or 12 seems to be about right to me....

1973dereks · #3 (**permalink**) 18-01-2010, 09:54 AM

For me it depends entirely on the size of hook and what your trying to represent. On say, a size 12 I use anything up to 6 or more plumes of CDC (if it's fast water in a river) and I want to match LDO's, then I keep the plume length equel to the shank length, and that would be the general rule I would follow.

For some of my smaller flies I use less plumes but depending on the strength of the flow(river again) I can and do shorten them. The ones I use on lakes are all fairly similar and I generally don't vary from the plume length/shank length theory

I think as long as the fly looks balanced to your eye, that all that matters. This seems to be a personal thing with people and I've given my 2bits worth.

Hope this helps.