Peter: Thanks for the tips... So the Biot is a strip of feathers that comes off the main quill, but remain together if I understand right????Then I'd wrap them in a spiral down the hook shank for the body??? I know which side you are talking about, cause thay (and I guess about any feather like the wing feathers) have a long and a short side... Is there a site I can go to, to see one of these??? You're right.. it sounds easier to see than to understand in text... Kinda like readign these books I have on tying flies, vs watchingthe DVD I have..but if I follow you right, the finished fly will have a body kinda like the furry caterpillers you sometimes see??? But will be spiraled down the body (ie hook shank)?? Or am I totally wrong in my understanding???? Sound like it would be great for bluegills... I hope I'm understanding you right??? Thanks again, Chuck
----- Original Message ----- > From: "Peter Gramp" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2005 9:27 PM > Subject: Re: [VFB] Feather ???? > > > Hey, Chuck- > I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I use canadian goose > biots (the "thicker" part of the wing feather that is super-stiff if > you try to fan the fibers out from the stem) all of the time for biot- > bodies. These fibers are from the "not- wide side" of the feather, > and when peeled from the feather's quill / stem, have an elongated > triangle taper to their appearance. I tie them in by the point and > then wrap the feather biot up the hook shank to give a segmented look > to the body. I can send some samples if you wish, so you can see what > I mean. > Also, you can get fancy, as the biot has a notch at the base of the > triangle taper... where you stripped it from the feather's quill. > Well, if you wrap the triangle fiber piece (called a biot) with the > notch on one side versus the other, you can make a raised fuzzy > divider of the segmentation, or you can just cover over it and have > darker edging but no raised fuzzy edge. Again, it's easier to show it > than it is to explain it... if this doesn't make sense, feel free to > ask me about it. :) I love biot bodies for my dry spinners, and they > work well for nymph bodies, also, though I always add legs on these > for nymphs. > Anyhow, that should be a start for ideas. OH! before using ANY > road-kill / molted feathers from the park, etc... wash them in normal > dish soap. Usually this removes most possible "bugs"(though there are > numerous better ways to get rid of stuff, like freezing / microwaving, > etc), but at a very least, it cleans them up. Besides that, when > rinsed of the soap and air- dried, the feathers often look better than > they did when you started with them. > Just my 2 cents worth of advice... Good luck and tight lines, > Pete Gramp >
