Heron Herl

[joaniebo]

Don't remember where I copied this pic from but liked the way the heron feathers looked. Years ago, I ordered "Heron Subs" from Ellis Slater and received various shades of Canada Goose herls to use a subs.

[wsbailey]

You can get legal heron from Canada but the US is hard line on Grey heron.

http://www.canadiantubeflies.com/flytyi ... heron.html

[Old Hat]

The best substitute I have come by for heron is Blue Eared Pheasant. Not the marabou stuff but the feathers used for heron hackle sub on spey flies.

Those goose feathers look like nice sub as well.

[wsbailey]

There is a black feather near the tail of a wood duck that makes an excellent substitute for black heron hackles.

[Theroe]

Lots of great replies on this topic - I think the blue eared pheasant that Carl mentions is better than heron in many instances. And the wood duck is one of the more underutilized birds at our disposal. Eric Leiser has paragraphs in his book “Fly tying materials” on this subject. If you don’t have this book, you should!

Theroe