Dyed Peacock Herl

[Jason]

Has anyone heard of dyed peacock herl? Can it be done? Is it available to purchase somewhere? Ostrich would be the alternative, but I like the look of peacock, and in different colors it could be awesome.

[mcgx2]

Never seen any dyed peacock herl, the only process I ever heard of for coloring peacock herl is bronzing it with sunlight.

mcg

[LIV2FSH]

Jason,
I don't know of any source for dyed herl, but I may have a little useful info for ya. Do you know anybody that owns peacocks? My Uncle has a few on his farm and he gave me a handfull of tail feathers one day. I noticed that the individual feathers vary in color. Some are the typical green color while some are more of a bronze/reddish color. When I tie lighter bodied flies, I will use the bronze/reddish color herl. I don't know that it makes any difference to the fish, but it looks good to me!
I would think that herl being so dark, would be complicated to dye. Also I think that you would loose that irridecent quality that herl has. Just my observations and opinion.
Tight Lines and Iceless Guides!
Bruce

[Trowdy]

Jas.

A buddy of mine actually picked up some dyed Peacock at Sportsmans in Idaho Falls a year ago. It was red. I've not seen it here, but I know the stuff exists because I tied with it. FYI, the integrity of the stems was still solid and the quality was suprisingly good, one shaft could be chenilled for P.T.'s and other nymphs without breaking and still looking very full.

I don't know if there are other colors, but even the red is enough to keep it fun. Long trip to I.F. though, there has to be another source more local -- even if special order.

TJR

[Trowdy]

A couple other points. The shafts I tied with were most definitely dyed because you could see the color bleed in the stems, and on one point LIV2FISH brings up, the irridescence was maitained. Cool stuff.

TJR

[TheFreak]

I just got back from the Sportsman Warehouse in Provo and they had Red dyed peacock and also Black. Bought some cause it looked pretty cool and I am excited to try it out.

[Jason]

Thanks for the comments. I think if there was a rainbow of colors available I could do some cool stuff with it. Red and black, huh? I'll have to search around until I find some. Does anybody know the manufacturer who makes this dyed peacock herl.

[Ouzel]

You might try to find a copy of A> K. Best's book on "dyeing". I could not find a copy in the library system.
I think you're right in trying to find a mfg./out-source first.
Personally, I have found that unless a person ties professionally, belongs to a fly tying club or several guys are in it together the supplies, process and time are overkill and you just have one color. I'm not saying the education of "how to" is not interesting but a person ends up with a LOT of material.
A favorite fly of mine is the "H & L Variant", it was made famous because President Eisenhower used it. It also catches fish.
The simple stripping process left me with enough peacock quills to tie many, many dozens.
P. S. - You might pose the question on the VFS site.
P. P. S. - Though this may be a interesting experiment why not just use chenelle?
P. P. P. S. - You can also use Pantone/Prisma pens.

[Wes Johnson]

I've never seen or heard of dyed peacock herl. However, I do have some bleached herl that I got in England in the early 70's. These make great light colored bodies.

A.K.Best uses stripped herl on alot of his patterns. Be sure to moisten them before tying or they may break.

[Fred]

Jason,

I saw some at Fish Tech. They had red, purple, and one other color. I can't remember the third. Anyway, I bought some red.

It's not really red, though. You can tell it has been dyed because the stems are all red, but the feather is still mostly green with a reddish tint.

I can send you a few strands if you want to see for yourself. Send me your address in an email if you think it will help you out.

[RAW]

Another option which comes from LaFontaine which he calls "double magic" is to make a dubbing loop and add the color of antron you want into it and then twist your peacock herl and antron together giving the hint of color you want into the fly body. According to LaFontaine this is very effective. His Twist Nymphs use this technique and Stimpson's Enchanted Prince uses this technique.

[Jason]

RAW, that's a great idea! Haven't really thought of that option, although I've done something similar using the technique you describe. I just haven't focused on peacock and throwing in some other colors.

The whole reason I brought this question up, is the fact that peacock has a very unique irredescent shiny sparkle glow to it that you can't get from anything else. I thought if I could get the same affect in different colors, I could create some killer nymph/pupa patterns, particulary nymph thorax' and pupa collars.

Bill, you make a good suggestion. I have thought of using some sparkle chenille type material, but it just wouldn't be the same. I just might try it and see. Well, back to the vise.

[Wes Johnson]

You may want to check Kaufmann's. They have various colors of dyed herl. www.kman.com

[Larry S.]

Have you tried Stalcup's Ice Dubbing? I have tied a few patterns with it last season with varying degrees of success. I picked it up at Sportman's Warehouse but you can get it from Feather Craft and probably Angler's Inn too.