{Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Pheasant wing treatment

Looks like part of a Rooster and Hen -- well done.  I have 3 skins in my deep freezer right now from this December ;).  

All I do is skin them by hand, use a lot of salt to dry things out, and store in ziplock bags in the deep freeze.  If you have a lot of skin it is better to let it air dry as much as possible to get beyond the "funk" stage, and then store it like you would anything else.  I have a LOT of pheasant feathers and haven't had a problem with parasites, or rot, etc.  

The upper shoulder feathers are good for #12-14 soft hackles usually in my experience -- the leading edge of the flight feathers are biots just like any other you'd buy, though I don't use biots really at all.  You can also use the flight feathers for traditional "winged wets" if you're into those (e.g. leadwing coachman).  

http://www.jackgartside.com/art_pheasant_feathers.htm

Overall, I find the most useful feathers on a pheasant skin to be the tail feathers (an obvious choice) and the neck/upper back area.  Those "ring" feathers around the neck are superb for Stewart Spiders in sizes #20-14, though I think he used starlings.  

Gene

On Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 3:20:12 PM UTC-5, Dave Marcus wrote:

My colleague recently came back from a pheasant hunting trip and brought me back the wings from a pheasant (picture attached). I'm appreciative for the thought (although was hoping for the tail feathers) so i wanted the groups thoughts on the following.

1. What is the best way to treat these wings to keep them from rotting? They've currently got some salt on them but not too much...they're starting to release some liquid, did I miss my window to properly treat these? They're probably 4-5 days old, should I just toss them? I live in a 1 bedroom apartment and don't have an outdoor space to "air it out".

2. If I can keep them, what flies can I make with pheasant wing? I've made many pheasant tail nymphs but the hackle on these feathers isn't long enough. Anyone have experience with this material?

Any advice or thoughts would be welcome.

Thanks,

David

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