I do prefer to steam feathers to get the "bounce" back into them, but
I felt I should mention to Deb (regarding the Golden Pheasant Crest
feathers) that if you take two crests of similar length, wet them in
water, and let them "wet- stick" to the outside of some cylindrical
container (drinking glass, etc) with the tips (not stems) touching,
you get a wonderful matched pair of crests for the topping and
underwing/ "bottoming" on a salmon fly. I'm not sure if this is old
news, but it has saved me much time in trying to find the prized "2
per head" crest feathers that are the right length and curve to frame
the married- slip wing.
Just my 2 cents,
Pete
