I have been tying lot of Intruders preparing for winter steelhead season, and have had plenty of opportunity to explore a range of options for creating a collar on the butt and shoulder section of my flies. I decided to show three feathers that make good options and show how each looks on the same butt section.
Lady Amherst, Guinea, and Golden Pheasant Tippet: all make for good collars on the butt or head of Intruder flies.
Here are the three feather types:
Here are the feathers out of the packages.
Here are individual feathers side by side.
Here are the three feathers prepared to wind on the tube or shank.
I started with a simple butt composed of copper Ice Dub and a red saddle hackle. I will now proceed to wrap each of the three different feathers onto this same base.
Here is the butt station completed with the Guinea feather.
Here is the same butt station completed with the orange dyed Golden Pheasant Tippet feather.
Finally, here is the same butt station finished with the blue Lady Amherst tippet feather.
Of the three feathers, I find the Guinea the most challenging to wind onto the tube or shank. The stems tend to be thicker and reluctant to behave properly while winding. The Pheasant feathers are generally easy to wind and the fibers are longer if you select the largest tippet feathers.
Hope this article and photos provide ideas and encouragement at the fly bench.
Jay Nicholas – winter season 2016/17
