The Starling, a game bird or not. One thing for certain there are millions of these birds everywhere. The starling is one of my favorite feathers to tie with. A quality skin can offer you a vast amount of beautiful feathers in which to work with. Many of these feathers have an iridescent sheen to them. Many have multi colored tips on the feather. The starling can be a bit weak when it comes to winding it on the hook but i have not had major problems with this. The main issue is finding a high quality skin. Most are pretty poor and one should not buy one unless you can actually see it. I have some good skins and I cherish them. Starling skins come in colors to. I have skins that are dyed green, and yellow. I also have one that has been "bleached" which creates some very effective flies.
Starling feathers above are...top left a black starling with tips of gold...bottom left a black starling with that remarkable iridescence...top right a feather from a bleached starling again showing that iridescence... bottom right, a bleached starling feather showing a beautiful tawny brown color.
Starling and Purple...the feather is from the top left
Starling and Purple..the feather is from the bottom right. The feather is shorter and is tied on a size 14 hook.
Orange and Starling..tied with the feather from the top left
Starling and Orange...feather from the bottom left
Nice ties Alan. You must pick up these skins at shows and events. I only have one mail order skin and the quills are very fragile.
ReplyDeletebillp
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Bill I have got a few at shows, but I have a fly shop close where I can choose what I like. Starling is fragile but once you get a turn or two on it's not bad.
Alan,
ReplyDeleteYour articles about soft hackles are very good, I follow them closely.
Also, great flies and photos.
Humberto
Anonymous
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Humberto the flies are so effective and they are a lot of fun to tie. Many enjoyable evenings at the vise.
I have been tying a lot with starling lately. In fact my better skin was found in the middle of the living room floor by Natty when we got back from the river today, with a guilty cat nearby.
ReplyDeleteNathan Camp
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Nate yes the cat...good work Natty in your discovery. When you have a good skin it's hard to loose it in such a way. Bears Den has some quality starling. When you call them request that they give you a decent skin. I have had them take a photo of it and send it to me so I could make a decision.
I love starling, when I can make it work. I have these big, beat up, farmer hands. They're used to wrestling with farm implements and cows, not fragile starling feathers. A delicate touch is needed and I'm not sure I posses that particular gift.
ReplyDeletemike
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" I have these big, beat up, farmer hands. They're used to wrestling with farm implements and cows, not fragile starling feathers"...I love that. I cut a lot of meat in my day...hindquarters, forequarters etc. After retirement I found that delicate touch...I'm sure you will to.
Hi Alan
ReplyDeleteStarling is a much underrated and underused hackle......
Although I also find it difficult to work with, using a delicate touch and a lot patience, you can hatch some wonderful flies from your vice!
Take care and stay safe
Alistair
Alistair
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Alistair much underused for sure. I think when combined with peacock herl it creates some of the deadliest soft hackles an angler can have.
Fragile they are.
Hi Alan- A Starling post without a Black Spider? One of my all time favorite flies. I like to use the white tipped feathers in place of Jungle Cock eyes depending on the pattern.
ReplyDeleteDean
Dean F
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Dean your so right, my bad for not posting Stewart's Black gem. Yes starling can be a good substitute for JC.