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
> >
