palmered marabou

[blt]

I've read about it, watched it on You Tube, and still don't know how you all do it so nice lol. I can do feathers, but not marabou!! Even saw a site that said to slightly wet it down to pull it all to one side to make it easier.....maybe for HIM, but mine look really sad. Oh well, keep on trying.

 

[Fatman]

It's one of those things that just takes practice and more practice.

 

[toadfrog]

It is hard to explain how to do that . Damp feathers help . You have to wrap basically using 2 hands . pinch the feather as you wrap between a thumb and forefinger close to the body . As you wrap slide the feathers through your fingers pulling the fibers back away from the body . This helps them keep from bunching up on you . They will spring back to shape when dry . Leave a little space between each wrap for expansion of the fibers . It is a slow process that is why not a lot of people do it .

 

[smalljaw]

I watched a video of it being done and as usual I didn't pay close enough attention and so I began doing it and it was wrong, flat out wrong but amazingly it worked. I was tying down the quill end and then I would put hackle pliers on the tip justlike normal hackle and I would begin to spin. It would look really bad after 4 wraps or so but I would stop and use my fingers and just pull all the fibers that were around the hook shank back and after a few strokes it looked good, I found out after watching I different video that I was doing it backward but it still worked. Now the way I do it is I get a good feather and I hold it by the tip and start pulling the fibers backward, once I get them seperated from the top I lat the feather on the hook and I tie the top down and then holding the quill I begin spinning the feather. TF is right, you need to just keep pulling the fibers back and when it looks bad just keep preasure on the feather with one hand and use the other to pull the fibers on the hook shank back and it will look good, then continue until you you are finished. I will tell you it makes a difference in how the feather looks in the water, it has a flowing independent motion, a lot different from tying it straight in. Keep doing it, you'll get it and if you saw me doing it you would laugh as it looks bad untill you stop inbetween and pull the fibers back. Good luck.

 

[blt]

I do start with the tip, but that was the only thing that happens that looks like the video lol. I'll get it down. Like the looks better than just straight on.

 

[smalljaw]

I do start with the tip, but that was the only thing that happens that looks like the video lol. I'll get it down. Like the looks better than just straight on.

If my video camera was half way decent I'd do one for you, trust me, the way mine looks while I'm doing it compared to the finished product is completely different. I took some jigs up to Tuscarora lake not really fishing but just to see how they would look in the water and the regular marabou looks great but the jigs I did by palmering the marabou looked even better, the fibres move almost independently of each other but that is because when you palmer it you are seperating the individual fibres, you'll get it soon, it took me a few times and some wasted feathers but I think I got it now. One last thing, and probably the most important, the feather selection is critical, when you hold the feather by the tip and stroke it back to seperate the fibers, they nees to be flowing, not too webby otherwise when you palmer it forward they just all seem to stay together in a clump , I'm sorry for the explaination as I can't quite find the right way to describe it.

 

[Jig Man]

Not sure what you have watched on youtube, but this a pretty good video on using marabou.....

Smash here>>>----------------------> Mastering Marabou

This one might work better for you....

Click here >>>----------------------->Soft Hackle Streamer

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Bob,the easiest thing to do is have a coffee cup of water on your bench.After every wrap of your marabou feather dip your fingers into the cup until it is all wet.Won't take but a couple times.Hold your feather by the quill end after you have the tip tied in and hold it up in the air to tease the fibers back so that they are all pointed toweards the back of the hook.Make a wrap around the hook shank starting about a 1/4" back of the head and paying attention where your wraps are going.You'll get it after a couple of ties.

 

[Shoemoo]

Palmering marabou is a pain. I can do it by smoothing back the fibers as I wrap, but the tail usually comes out longer than I would like. Maybe it would work better if I could find some smaller feathers. Plus it's just not very durable. After a few fish it starts to look pretty ratty.

I'd rather use rabbit or fox.

 

[Fatman]

Another way is in the Fly Tyers Bench side Reference is to split the quill of the maribou in two then palmer it in, just realize it's not as thick as using the whole feather.

 

[blt]

Haven't even tried the wabbit yet. Where is a good place to order it, and get good usable stuff?

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Anywhere that they sell Hareline brand.It is all good.

 

[Shoemoo]

There's a few things you need to look for when buying rabbit strips. Rabbit comes in two cuts. Zonkers are cut lengthwise down the pelt, crosscuts are cut side to side. You can palmer both, but I prefer crosscuts for palmered tails and bodies (unless I want them super big and poofy.)

Sometimes the hide has tiny bald spots. Not usually a big deal with zonkers because the surrounding hair covers the bald area, but a HUGE deal with crosscuts because it means that section of the strip is totally bare. I've seen strips with as much as 1/4" of bare hide. If you try to use that section, you will end up with a jig that either has a bald spot or is lopsided.

There are many, many grades of rabbit skins, everything from furrier quality to hides that are only suitable for testing dog clippers. Some vendors cut costs by buying the cheapest hides they can get away with. There are only a few vendors I would trust enough to buy rabbit strips without actually seeing the strips and taking them out of the package first, unless the price was a super good deal. Hareline's is usually good. I've also been impressed with Over the Edge Tackle's zonker strips. I have not tried their crosscuts.

 

[smalljaw]

Cabelas, the only thing for tying jigs I get there is rabbit strips and the extra select craft fur but the rabbit strips are like a dollar more than everywhere else but you need to take the time and read the fine print, they have 6' of strips in a pack rather than the usual 3'. The downside is they only offer a few colors. Palmering rabbit is easy, use the regular cut zonkers for the tail and use the crosscut zonkers to palmer. Stumphunter has a good video about tying rabbit and he does a fantastic job at explaing the difference between regular and crosscut, check it out.

 

[Fatman]

JStockard has some assortment bags, but on the full hide worth all I see is the regular zonker strips not the crosscut.