I think I have it. Iv'e been tying some large stryper flies for a shop in
Maine and have found that small emu feather tips are exactly what you need.
They are soft, buggy and some tie very small. Ive tied some of the stiffer
ones under the soft hackle on hornbergs. They are excellent feathers.

Randy
"Larry L" wrote in message
...
Imagine a small ( size #20 standard length ) soft hackle, intended to be
fished when tiny little "black caddis" are on the water.

I'm looking for a feather for that hackle that will have barbules about
the
length of the #20 hook shank, maybe a tad more, but not too long, and an
almost black, flecked with greys, color.

All the soft hackle feathers I have ( partridge, grouse, quail ) are
either
too big, or more brown and lighter than what I want.

Anybody think of a bird ( available legally and easily ) that might have a
feather like I seek?


On a similar note, got a good technique to use "too big" SH feathers on
small hooks? The number of feathers that will hackle small hooks is
pretty
limited on most partridge skins.