[Iain Goolager]

Nice, I like the spey plumes (I'm assuming that's what the collar hackle is).
I was looking at them at the weekend down in Forfar but as the Trout season is all but here I didn't buy any.

Will have to give them a try, are they robust?

Iain

[Hamish Young]

Nice, I like the spey plumes (I'm assuming that's what the collar hackle is).

Cheers Iain and it's a good guess..... but it's not right. In fact the hackles used in that fly are the 'bases' of Schlappen hackles 

Will have to give them a try, are they robust?

Have used the schlappen this way before and the answer is yes - they hold up to fishing and fish no bother at all, same as any other feather.
You have to be a wee bit canny on prepping the hackle but the good news is you get the 'traditional' schlappen hackle for one or more flies and the 'fluffy plume' section at the base of the hackle for another 'spey' type hackle.
This is a good thing
H

[Iain Goolager]

Shi*! , I normally throw those bits oot. 

I'll give it a go 

Iain

[Hamish Young]

Pleasure to be of service 

Give me a buzz or drop me a PM, will explain what I mean about "prepping" the schlappen 

H

[Rob Brownfield]

Give me a buzz or drop me a PM, will explain what I mean about "prepping" the schlappen 

Split the stem? Thats what I do on the pike flies, get two hackles then  . I prefer the fluffy Schlappen base as it seems to hold up to teeth a bit better than the Spey plumes, and its a damn sight cheaper.

[Iain Goolager]

Rob,
do you fly fish for Pike? 

Iain

[Rob Brownfield]

Rob,
do you fly fish for Pike? 

Iain

I get it now...you see, the title of the site is "Fishing the Fly"...

[Hamish Young]

I prefer the fluffy Schlappen base as it seems to hold up to teeth a bit better than the Spey plumes, and its a damn sight cheaper.

I've not bought spey plumes but I agree that the schlappen 'fluff' holds up fine to abuse, which is a good thing Not sure the finish is quite the same as the plumes but really I don't think the fish care too much about that to be honest 

Rob,
do you fly fish for Pike? 

Iain

smirk 

I get it now...you see, the title of the site is "Fishing the Fly"...

 

[Iain Goolager]

Hamish,

I gave one a whirl last night and it looks sidney simply devine to my eyes but when I took some photo's it looks... well.... not as yours does, so I didn't post the picture.
Although I'm happy to tie & fish away with the results I'd be interested in your method of prep.

Iain

[Hamish Young]

Hamish,

I gave one a whirl last night and it looks sidney simply devine to my eyes but when I took some photo's it looks... well.... not as yours does, so I didn't post the picture.
Although I'm happy to tie & fish away with the results I'd be interested in your method of prep.

Iain

Will prep a feather or three, take some pics and post them later.

H

[Hamish Young]

OK, small schlappen feather stripped to where I want it for 'spey plume' duty:



Tied in the normal way:



Wound tight:



Almost finsihed product:



Is that any different to what you were doing Iain

H

[Iain Goolager]

H,

not a million miles from what I was doing but I see that you have selected a feather with a nice slim stem, my selected one was thicker which gave me (I knew it would) a bit of a head trouble. Not insurmountable but I'll take more care in selection in future.

Top Tip 





Iain

[Hamish Young]

H,
not a million miles from what I was doing but I see that you have selected a feather with a nice slim stem, my selected one was thicker which gave me (I knew it would) a bit of a head trouble. Not insurmountable but I'll take more care in selection in future.
Top Tip 
Iain

Cool  With the chunkier schlappen feathers you can splt the stalk with a razor blade (other cutting devices are available for those under restriction orders etc) and get two plumes for the price of one. However the catch to that is unless the cape has been really well dyed the chances are you're going to have some white 'stalky shit' left over which is bit of a pain. You can hide it when dressing the fly but I try to make sure I search out the best of the thin schlappen as it saves a lot of grief.

Nice flee by the way.... might borrow that pattern 

H

[Marc Fauvet]

However the catch to that is unless the cape has been really well dyed the chances are you're going to have some white 'stalky shit' left over which is bit of a pain.

run a permanent marker over the offensive 'stalky shit' before tying it in 

[Hamish Young]

Yeah, tried that Marc and haven't been satisfied with the results, perhaps it takes more 'penmanship' than I'm prepared to put it in