Brown Owl Substitute

A place to discuss the collecting and tying of classic flies, the tyers who made them famous, the tools, materials and techniques they used as well as the waters they were designed for. While classic is generally used to describe old things, classic is also used in the sense of first class or in the highest form. Therefore a fully dressed Salmon Fly, or a Carrie Stevens Streamer are just as much classics as a Chernobyl Ant would be. Enjoy the forum.

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joaniebo
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Brown Owl Substitute

#1

Post by joaniebo »

Anyone with a suggestion as to a decent substitute for brown owl hackles to use in tying Edmonds & Lee's "Brown Owl" (No. 11) soft hackle? Thanks.

Cheers and Safe Fishing

Bob

Grant - See what I mean about the addiction ?
"Fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed." - John Voelker

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moregrayling
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Brown Owl Substitute

#2

Post by moregrayling »

bob,

try hen dyed the correct shade (it's a reddish brown). the brown owl wings I've handled were rather grey, so even if you'd get hold of owl, it's difficult to get the correct shade.

best from krautland,
christian
Best,
Christian

Them, that knows nowt, fears nowt!

joaniebo
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Brown Owl Substitute

#3

Post by joaniebo »

Christian After doing the above posting, I did find one suggestion (on Don Nicholson's site, I believe) to use French Partridge as a sub .... which I'll have to try ... plus see if any of my hen skins look close enough to the right color.

Best

BobPS - Just found some light, reddish-brown / grayish wing feathers on a hen skin that look great as a sub.
Last edited by joaniebo on 11/10/07 07:20, edited 1 time in total.
"Fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed." - John Voelker

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Ken M 44
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Brown Owl Substitute

#4

Post by Ken M 44 »

Bob ... I know that you have a few of the real thing even if only for comparison Image

joaniebo
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Brown Owl Substitute

#5

Post by joaniebo »

Ken Check your e-mail for a comparison picture. Best Bob
"Fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed." - John Voelker

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Ken M 44
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Brown Owl Substitute

#6

Post by Ken M 44 »

Bob - They are Very Very Very Cool Image

I have only found one way to obtain these feathers and it is not cheap ....

Image

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DrLogik
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Brown Owl Substitute

#7

Post by DrLogik »

One question:

When the pattern calls for:

"The tail fhall be fparsely dreffed with the frefhest urine-burned under fur taken from th' nether regionf of a live Mastadon. Approach th' beaft with the utmoft caution so af to not caufe him angft..."

Wudya gonna to do then my friend?????

joaniebo
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Brown Owl Substitute

#8

Post by joaniebo »

Grant

If the pattern I wanted to tie had those instructions, I'd probably contact Ken and Christian for some assistance, as they probably have the specified materials readily available on their fly tying benches ! :>)

Best

Bob
"Fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed." - John Voelker

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Ken M 44
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Brown Owl Substitute

#9

Post by Ken M 44 »

Bob - you are correct -

I have it on good authority that Christian's great great great great great great great (etc,) Grandfather was a master at sneaking up behind live mastodons and plucking bits from their nether regions.

Image

joaniebo
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Brown Owl Substitute

#10

Post by joaniebo »

Here are pics of substitute hackles used to tie a few of the Edmonds & Lee's pattern called "The Brown Owl". The top fly's hackle was a hen flank feather; the middle fly has a hen neck hackle (from the same bird); and the bottom fly has a French Partridge Hackle (the smallest I have available). Silk was Pearsall Gossamer #6a and the head is Bronze peacock. I look forward to seeing if the Cheese Country dace will enjoy this fly when the season re-opens next year.

Image

Cheers and Safe Fishing

Bob

PS - My camera takes lousy close-ups. So, in order to take the pics, I lay the flies on my flatbed scanner, closing the lid on top of them. Thus, the "flattened" shape of some soft hackles.
Last edited by joaniebo on 11/15/07 05:03, edited 1 time in total.
"Fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed." - John Voelker

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moregrayling
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Brown Owl Substitute

#11

Post by moregrayling »

DrLogik wrote:One question:

When the pattern calls for:

"The tail fhall be fparsely dreffed with the frefhest urine-burned under fur taken from th' nether regionf of a live Mastadon. Approach th' beaft with the utmoft caution so af to not caufe him angft..."

Wudya gonna to do then my friend?????
doc,

as it happens, I have several bags of the stuff at hand, which I inherited from my great great great great great great great (etc.) grandfather, so if you're interested, give me a buzz.

with the very best,
christian

Image
Last edited by moregrayling on 11/14/07 10:13, edited 1 time in total.
Best,
Christian

Them, that knows nowt, fears nowt!

Wally Murray
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Brown Owl Substitute

#12

Post by Wally Murray »

Anybody got any Unicorn feathers? I'm desperate!

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DrLogik
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Brown Owl Substitute

#13

Post by DrLogik »

No. But I do have some Unicorn horn-bourne wax from the forlorned unicorn of yorn...... Image

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Marterius
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Brown Owl Substitute

#14

Post by Marterius »

Anyone with a suggestion as to a decent substitute for brown owl
Tried spotted owl as a substitute? Image

Regards,
Martin in Sweden

joaniebo
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Brown Owl Substitute

#15

Post by joaniebo »

Martin

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I don't have a source for any owl feathers. Guess I will have to settle for some brownish colored hen hackles.

Cheers and Safe Fishing

Bob
"Fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed." - John Voelker

wsbailey
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Brown Owl Substitute

#16

Post by wsbailey »

I would suggest bob white quail. Bill

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moregrayling
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Brown Owl Substitute

#17

Post by moregrayling »

wsbailey wrote:I would suggest bob white quail. Bill


bill,

could you please post a pic of one or more feathers? thank you.

best from "krautland",
christian
Best,
Christian

Them, that knows nowt, fears nowt!

wsbailey
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Brown Owl Substitute

#18

Post by wsbailey »

Here you go Christian: http://www.ups.edu/x5840.xml

Bill

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moregrayling
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Brown Owl Substitute

#19

Post by moregrayling »

wsbailey wrote:Here you go Christian: http://www.ups.edu/x5840.xml

Bill


neat, cheers bill. I'd like to have a couple of wings the same colour as the nebrascan male. I wouldn't want to buy these blind though, not with that kind of variation in colour...

thanks again. best,
christian
Best,
Christian

Them, that knows nowt, fears nowt!

wsbailey
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Brown Owl Substitute

#20

Post by wsbailey »

I know what you mean about buying blind. Blue Ribbon Flies does a great job of picking skins; at least they have always come through for me.
http://www.blueribbonflies.com/merchandise/flytying_birdskinfeathers.shtml

Bill

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