FLYMPH FORUM

I was in a fly tying shop and they had some small partridge skins with a lot of small feathers. The skins were selling for $20.00. The guy in the store said, however, the skins were grade B. I'm not sure what exactly grade B means. Should I buy a skin, or should I just spend more money for a better skin with the head? (I need a lot of small feathers.)

Thanks,
Randy

small feathers are small feathers no matter what the grade. Grade B may denote a young bird. I have seen differences in feathers in the age classes of birds.

Depending on what you intend to tie with them, the color of feathers can be as important as their size. "Grade B" may mean that there are few of the rich brown back feathers that many traditional spider tiers prefer. But don't necessarily be put off by low grades or reduced prices -- some of the coolest game bird skins I've seen have come out of bargain bins.

Randy, that's going to be a tough call. I think it comes down to a close inspection of the feathers you really want to use. Im not sure of the grading either. I've seen loads of grade A skins that I wouldn't give twenty bucks for and some odd skins that were fantastic. I could offer a tip on the inspection part of your selection. For whatever reason some birds seem to be as clumsy as our friend Eric and don't take the best care of their feathers. You get a feather with two or three of the barbs you want most that are broken or crushed. It might have been the fault of the harvest, the skinning, the cleaning, the packaging or the shipping, but it's funnier to imagine a bird that keeps falling over or flies into limbs and damages the barbs before we even get a chance to inspect them.

What you want is a feather that offers just the right spring and has a nice even arc across the tips. And I agree with bill as to finding a skin with the most brown, mottled feathers between the shoulders. On the other hand, a broken barb on a fly would make a fly less photogenic, but certainly not less effective. And a skin with more pale, gray feathers might make a nice skin for dyeing. The amount of spring or action really is an issue. I've wondered if it's the particular action of a partridge hackle that makes it so universally effective, above the color or markings. Not something we'll likely find out, but you have to wonder why they work nearly every outing.

I tend to buy the nicest partridge skin when I find one, sometimes you can go for quite a while before finding another high quality skin.

(Look who had two cops of coffee in a row. )

W

Take a look at the feathers, and if they are in good condition I'd say buy it. I have several partridge skins that I've purchased from Blue Ribbon flies, which I think were called "Tyers Grade". These partridge skins had some hunting damage, due to being shot or bitten by a retrieve dog. Even though there was damage, there was still a ton of useful feathers on the skins. BRF priced these skins lower than the prime skins, so in my opinion they are a good value.

Folks,
Thanks. I went back to the shop and looked at the feathers. They seemed to be in good shape. Maybe it's the skin of a young bird.
I decided to buy the skin.
Randy

small feathers are small feathers. I look for those skins first and colors after that. Now if only quail were colored like huns.

or if quail feathers had the fine stems of partridge...

From what I've experienced, cheap, low grade skins have thicker stems and larger feathers. The skin your talking about sounds pretty good as lOng as the stems aren't real thick.

Wayneb