Heron Herl...

[Mike62]

Alright, so now I'm confused. Robert Smith just posted a video of himself, tying a stone fly midge. In the video he calls for Heron herl as the body material.

I thought it was illegal to possess heron as a tying material, Britain or North America. Am I wrong? I can't keep track of this stuff anymore...

I may, or may not be, in possession of a pile of road-kill Bittern feathers. The conservation officers at the time were of a mind that, wasting the bird was just as egregious as it was illegal to use it. The CO was a member of our TU chapter and said he certainly wouldn't push the issue. He also said that his superiors wouldn't be pleased with his opinion. I may have thrown it all away...

It's getting harder to keep track of scheduled birds these days. I could tie with pigeon until the cows come home; the bastards have a habit of getting themselves shot with rat shot while in my barn. But I don't, I leave them for the barn cats; mores the pity. Grackles, blue jays, and gorbies (Canadian Jays) are a constant temptation. I usually try and herd the barn cats in their general direction, hoping to pick up the detritus of some larger altercation, illegal though it may be.

I tend to tie with home-grown sourced materials. Quality is not up to the usual tying standards of the day, but the fish don't seem to give a shite, and I'm a retired farmer who thinks spending stupid money on a Cree saddle is asinine. Was there a point to this post? ...maybe, I forget.

[Variant]

Hey Mike,
The rules are different in England than in the States . You can pick up roadkill over there but here you cannot even possess feathers from protected birds pieces. Some of the materials Rob Smith uses are from collections from years past which is OK.
You can purchase duck feathers such as Mallard , Teal ect., but you can not purchase American Woodcock feathers.
If you want European Woodcock ( a bigger and a little different bird) that is OK. In most states a valid hunting license , Federal and State Duck stamp and HIP stamp you can obtain many different types of birds.
I have used pigeon and starling for years .
Lou

[Ron Eagle Elk]

I have purchased legal heron feathers here in the States. They are pen raised birds from what I understand. Natural blue gray plus dyed colors.

[nfrechet]

https://www.canadiantubeflies.com/flyty ... heron.html

[wsbailey]

This the feather to use for herl.

https://www.lathkill.com/feathers-class ... uills.html

[nfrechet]

lathkill out of stock

gray goose feather is a good substitute

dont tell the fish