I was very impressed with Donald La Mar’s offering of using feathers for alignment marks. Thanks again, Donald, I really love the idea! I have never tied flies or worked with feathers before, so I am afraid I would be unable to distinguish quality feathers from seagull fluff. What / where have you veterans discovered to be the best source for feathers? Is there anything one needs to be aware of? Hopefully, my two African Gray parrots are not looking over my shoulder reading this.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

hi mark..it looks like you have a reason to take up fly tying. lol.

Mark

Angler' Workshop, a forum sponsor listed to the left, has fly tying feathers, including jungle cock eyes, which is what I used but purchased from a non-forum sponsor before realizing Angler's Workshop had them. Shame on me.

Was not a fan of alignment marks figuring that anyone who needed an aid to assemble a fly rod ought to take up spin fishing with a one piece rod. But, the spirit moved me, put feathers on a glass rod's ferrule wraps, and am now sort of a fan of alignment marks.

Check out fly tying sites. Some of the sponsors carry small feathers but the fly sites have many choices. Also craft supply stores are a good source.

Anglers Workshop as Donald mentions is a sponsor here. You can look to Janns Netcraft too. Find a fly shop in your area, visit it, and see the selection of feathers they have available. When on vacation, search out the shops in towns you visit if none are available near you. Also, there are two widely known sports/outdoors/gun/fishing/camping companies which have fly fishing/tying departments (but probably cannot mention them by name since they are not sponsors).

eric
fresno, ca.

Ben, you are probably correct but the reason I don’t is because I’m too busy enjoying wrapping rods and fabricating things to facilitate doing so.
Thanks Donald, Michael and Eric. Is a feather a feather or are there quality issues with which to be concerned?

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

I would suggest that for tying flies, quality is the top priority. Chickens are genetically bred and farm-raised over generations to produce quality feathers with specific fly tying characteristics, one being consistency in quality. certain "brands" have evolved over time to offer what most consider the best feathers. Whiting Farms is just one such top producer of feathers.

since you're taking a product that is created for another use (fly tying) for your own unrelated needs (alignment markers) your priorities would be different. for one thing you probably do not need a full cape or saddle. but both uses would share the property of clean, consistently sized and well-tailored feathers. so it would be a good avenue to source rather than something you find off the ground, from seagull fluff, or your own parrots. :) but those might work. it's up to you.

what kind of feathers are you interested in using? i have not seen donald la mar's "offering." in my past brief episode of using feathers for alignment marks, the only feathers i was interested in using or had seen used were jungle cock feathers. you can buy small packs, and they now offer a synthetic version. and aside from fly shops, some sources may include online shops still targeting the hair decoration fad from a few years ago. this particular source may not value the size and quality consistency that fly shops and fly tying sources value.

eric
fresno, ca.

Eric,
I have no idea what type of feathers I would want until viewing what is available. It is probably safe to say not seagull fluff though.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Mark, here is a source I use. Very big selection and good images. [siskiyouaviary.com]