Chicken Feather Jigs

[shipahoy41]

I would tie them in a similar way as to tie a marabou or kip jig. I have posted basic tying steps in this forum. Another great source of pure white chicken feathers that are the perfect size for crappies is to look for downy comforters or downy pillows at flea markets and thrift stores.

You can also go to u tube and type in chicken feather jigs. Here is a quote from one site I found..................

That's fowl. Many people are familiar with marabou (turkey) feather jigs, but few jig fishermen have ever seen a saddle hackle (chicken) jig. These are the same long thin delicate feathers that are all the rage for everyone to use on the back of their topwater poppers nowadays.

The very best feathers are "strung saddle hackles" of the highest QUALITY grade (so important!). What that means is that the feather merchant sets aside the softest, longest, supplest feathers, which are then strung onto a long line by a laborer using needle and thread. You want the grade of strung hackles which are 5 to 6 inches long. You really only will be able to make jigs that max out with about 3 to 4 inches of dressing. This is because you will clip off and discard the fuzzy part, called the "hurl," which covers about one-third the length down near the butt end of the "quill." You will be tying only the neat, gauze-like webby filaments that cover two-thirds the length of the feathers towards the tip.

Only problem is that high quality "strung" feathers this long are darn hard to find. You will probably have to buy bulk if you can even find it - and it is expensive. You will probably want to go down and hand-pick the strings (which are rolled up into coils) that you will buy. But if you are a jig fishin' nut, it's definitely worth your while to find these good "strung" hackles. These high quality feathers plump up in the water like ballpark franks on a grill! The lure flattens into a streamlined shape as it shoots forward , then swells up as though breathing when stopped. They exhibit what I can only describe as a living, supple, fleshy kind of appearance and action when wet.

If you decide to take the easy way out and settle for the "loose" stuff that you usually see jumbled into plastic bags at flyfishing stores, you will still be able to wrap and catch fish with this stuff, but the "loose" feathers get rough, dull and brittle, and tend to lose desirable qualities (suppleness, fleshiness, sheen, glossy webbing, etc.).

To wrap, snip the center stem of about 6 to 8 hackles with a very pointy scissors. Snip right where the fuzzy marabou-like part of the feather gives way to the webbed filaments. You do not want to tie using any of the fuzzy, frizzy part at all...so use your fingers to strip any last fuzzy piece and/or strip a few webbed filaments off the stem, just enough to give you a bare stub of stem to wrap under the thread, okay? Now, start wrapping the longest feathers first. Right side, left side, right, left, right, left... for 6 to 8 feathers...wrap the longest ones first and the shortest ones last. Never wrap on the top or bottom of the hook..only the left and right sides. It is perfect if there a gap from top to bottom between the two halves - it creates water flow, enhanced movement and vibration. Overall, you are looking to wrap a pennant-shaped dressing.

What more do you need to know? Well, it would have been pretty sneaky of me not to say that the "inside" of the feather MUST BE WRAPPED FACING THE INSIDE of the jig. The final effect is called the "praying hands" method of feather-tying.

Colors are basically white. As far as the color of a feather jig, it’s really not too important relative to the other desirable qualities - action, shape, movement, water displacement, breathing. Usually, the color is neither the attraction nor the trigger, It is the material and tying technique that provides the allure, the attraction, the seductive come-hither.

At times I will wrap 2 or 3 pink or chartreuse feathers onto the jig first, then wrap over them with 4 or 5 longer white hackles. Just put the pink or chartreuse on first so that the whites kind of overshadow it. As with bucktail tying, a sparse dressing and less thread is always better than overdoing it with too many fathers.

Finished wrapping all the feathers? Now just put the slighest amount of sealant solution on the thread