Like Ian, I've used guinea fowl as a full (rather than false) hackle at the front of salmon flies in the past.
Nice looking flies those fella
I liked guinea fowl (on my shrimp flies and things like munros killer etc) and so did the fish but back then (errr..... late '80s and early '90s) finding really nice
consistent (as in quality of dye/colour etc) quality guinea at my local shop and via mail order became a bit of an issue so I largely switched back to conventional hackles.
However, I can see the guinea fowl having something of a renaissance on my salmon flies next year as I've found a bag of mixed stuff in amongst my tying gear that's top quality - no idea where it came from, one of things I've picked up along the way and then forgotten about
Certainly when using sinking tips (polyleaders and such) I like a slightly heavier hackled fly, makes me fish with more confidence. Perhaps it's the 'loch style' built into me or maybe I just like disturbance patterns...... whatever.
I really must sort out a desk for my fly tying gear as '
she who must be obeyed' is getting a tad irritated by the spread of some of my tying gear on the kitchen table and is making noises about chucking stuff in the bin
I've hardly tied a fly since moving to the new gaff a year ago, must make amends over the winter.
I might even re-stock and rearrange my boxes
H
