Ostrich Spey Feathers

These are not ordinary Ostrich feathers. Our Ostrich Spey Feathers can be used as a substitute for Rhea. The feathers are between 12″ and 18″ long with nice long side fibres. Very nice quality, picked specifically for winging and leg applications. The side fibres are not very “fuzzy” because we purposely slightly burn the fuzz off the feather. The extra attention to these details results in a feather that is quite close to Rhea.

The burning and dyeing make the fibres a bit stiffer and a bit "scraggly"; not to worry! This is normal and will disappear when the fibres are damp or wet. For tying and handling it is a good idea to place the feather in some water for a minute, dap it dry and tie with the damp fibres. The fibres once wet have great mobility and are very durable.

We dye these feathers in a wide range of colours. Here are some details about our colour range. There are 4 types of blue: Kingfisher Blue for lighter blue patterns, Royal Blue for dark patterns such as my Egg-Sucking Rhea Stinger, Blue for general brilliant blue patterns, and Bulkley Blue, which is the blue that’s in Bob’s Bunny and my Bulkley Bandit. Those patterns have caught thousands of steelhead over the seasons…

Than we have two variations of purple. One is the standard purple and the other is our Skeena Purple; a purple with more red in it which shows up very well in coloured water.
New to our range are more natural colours, like White Sand, Aztec Gold, Olive, Pistachio and Golden Brown Olive. These colours are good for clear water conditions on upper Skeena tributaries like the Kispiox or Sustut. They are also great colours for many saltwater and lake applications.

Pumpkin Orange and our standard Orange are great colours for coastal rivers with peat coloured water or river beds.

We try to be as environmentally responsible as possible with the sourcing of our materials. Our Ostrich Spey Feathers are a by-product of the meat industry. Feather disposal in general, especially in the chicken meat industry, can be hard on the environment. An additional use for the feather saves having to dispose them.

Ostrich fibres are a bit softer than Rhea fibres. In order to keep volume in the water the Ostrich feather can be stripped. The strip of feather can than be tied in and hackled. This way forces the fibres to stand at a 90 degree angle and gives the fly lots of volume.

In order to strip the feather simply soak the feather in water for at least 20 minutes. Remove the feather from the water and grab the fibres at the tip of the feather. Now pull down along the shaft of the feather. If done right you will have a thin strip of fibres that can be hackled.

It is also a good idea to give the fibres some support by tying in an under-wing of Nutria. To do this slide a bead on the shank or tube and tie in a bunch of Nutria against the bead. Take three or four wraps to tie it in lightly, then place your thumbnail on the tie-in point and force the nutria around the shank/tube. This creates a nutria collar or under-wing which is great to support soft materials like Ostrich.

The combination of the stripped Ostrich hackle and the Nutria support produces lots of volume and movement. Try it; you'll like it, and we know the fish do!

For more information about tying techniques check out our sister-website Skeena Fly Zone for fly tying articles and fishing information. We also post regularly on social media; Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Make sure to follow us there for all kinds of tips and information.