Tenkara TalkTenkara Talk
Tenkara Talk
a tenkara fly fishing blog
Search TenkaraTalk
  • Home
  • Tenkara Gear
    • Tenkara Rods
    • Tenkara Lines
    • Flies
    • Line Holders & Spools
    • Fly Boxes
    • Nets
    • Packs, Organization & Storage
    • Clothing & Accessories
    • Wading Gear
  • How-To & Resources
    • What is Tenkara?
    • Tenkara 101
    • Presentation Techniques
    • Streamcraft
    • Tenkara Videos
    • Fly Tying
    • Knots
    • DIY & Hacks
    • Warmwater Tenkara
    • Books & Media
  • News & Fun
    • Trip Reports
    • Interviews
    • Philosophy
    • Humor
    • Art
    • Tenkara News
    • Events
  • Tenkara Links
  • About Me
  • Contact
FacebookTwitterYouTubePinterestInstagram
  • Home
  • Tenkara Gear
    • Tenkara Rods
    • Tenkara Lines
    • Flies
    • Line Holders & Spools
    • Fly Boxes
    • Nets
    • Packs, Organization & Storage
    • Clothing & Accessories
    • Wading Gear
  • How-To & Resources
    • What is Tenkara?
    • Tenkara 101
    • Presentation Techniques
    • Streamcraft
    • Tenkara Videos
    • Fly Tying
    • Knots
    • DIY & Hacks
    • Warmwater Tenkara
    • Books & Media
  • News & Fun
    • Trip Reports
    • Interviews
    • Philosophy
    • Humor
    • Art
    • Tenkara News
    • Events
  • Tenkara Links
  • About Me
  • Contact

Parrot Hackle Flies

January 30, 20156 CommentsFly TyingBy Jason Klass

To me, tenkara anglers are an intrinsically “outside the box” breed. We don’t fish with reels, we reject the prevailing notion that more gear catches more fish, and lets’s face it, our flies look…well…strange. Even stranger are the materials we experiment with. I’ve seen tenkara flies tied with everything from snakeskin to fuzz from a fern (and even junk just laying around the house). I think it’s fair to say that I’ve seen far more unconventional materials used in tenkara flies than in mainstream fly fishing (which tends to stick to what’s hanging on the fly shop pegboard).

Kit from Tenkara Hero Chris Kline

At the 2014 Tenkara Summit, Chris Kline from Tenkara Hero was nice enough to bring me a small kit in an Altoids tin containing some parrot feathers and some flies he’d tied with them. I’d never thought about tying with parrot feathers and if it were 10 years ago my reaction probably would have been, “what the heck am I going to do with these?” But since entering the free-spirited world of tenkara, I instantly thought, “oh yeah, I can see that!” The kit had orange and blue feathers which really looked different than anything I’ve seen in a fly shop. There’s something subtly different about natural colors and patterns that dyed feathers just can’t replicate. Check out the almost hypnotic properties of this blue parrot feather…

Blue parrot feather

The feathers are easy to wrap as hackle and have a nice curvature for sakasa kebari, but are a bit long making them more suitable for larger hooks (maybe 10 and up). Here are a few of the examples Chris included…

Parrot hackle sakasa kebari by Chris Kline

I don’t have a parrot (too messy and noisy for me) plus, I don’t want one to repeat some of the choice utterances that come out of my mouth sometimes in front of my daughter, but if anyone out there does have one and wants to do some kind of trade for feathers, I’d love to experiment more with them. I think there’s lots of potential for creating unique flies using non-traditional materials like this. Also, I’d like to try some muppet fur so if you’ve got a pelt you’d be willing to snip off a swatch of, please email me.

tenkaratenkara fly tyingtying flies with parrot feathers
About the author

Jason Klass

Jason is an avid fly angler and backpacker. As a former fly fishing guide originally from Western New York, he moved to Colorado and became an early adopter of tenkara which perfectly suited the small, high altitude streams and lakes there. He has not fished a Western-style fly rod for trout since.

Like this article? You might also like these ...
Vicuna Alpaca Dubbing
Vicuña Dubbing
September 4, 2020
Surviving COVID Through FLy Tying
COVID Tenkara Fly Tying
July 5, 2020
Sources for Tenkara Fly Tying Materials
October 25, 2019
Tenkara Flies by Jason Sparks
Jason Sparks on Tenkara Fly Tying
September 4, 2019
Reusing Fly Tying Hooks
Resurrecting Flies
July 1, 2019
Shetland Spindrift Yarn Tenkara Flies
Simple Yarn Tenkara Flies
April 6, 2019
6 Comments
  1. January 31, 2015 at 9:59 am
    TIMMY!

    Those are beautiful! Nice work Chris and thanks for sharing Jason. I noticed when i scrolled down the full blue feather appeared to ((( vibrate )))!

  2. January 31, 2015 at 6:50 pm
    Dbl

    Frank Sawyer’s Killer Bug was made from copper wire from old electrical gear and knitting wool.

  3. September 7, 2015 at 4:48 am
    Jan

    Just started Tenkara …..hmm I have lots of parrot feathers from my fids ( feathered kids) …but mainly blue and green ….do those colors work?

  4. September 7, 2015 at 6:55 am
    Jason Klass

    Hi Jan, sure! I think any color would work and you could get really creative.

  5. June 25, 2020 at 6:01 am
    John

    Hey I know this is a older article but, I have a way to get feathers from many colorful birds where the only harm done is to your pride. Many years ago when I was to tinkering with Atlantic salmon flies and Carrie Stevens long shank streamers I was always looking for colorful feathers. I found that if you are in the vicinity of a pet store and take a look at the birds you will find some real dandy feathers. Its a little humbling begging for animal cage waste but just remember it is destin for the trash anyway. When a bird is molting you may have hit the mother load. Birds are always preening and drop them all the time so its worth a look.

  6. June 25, 2020 at 7:08 am
    Jason Klass

    Hi John,
    That is actually a brilliant idea! I can’t believe I haven’t heard of it before. Thanks for sharing. BTW, I used to tie a lot of salmon flies and Carrie Stevens flies back when I lived in WNY. I even had the Carrie Stevens book and used to get special Allcock long-shank hooks for them. They’re a lot of fun to tie.

Leave Comment

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

clear formSubmit

About Me

Jason Klass is a former fly fishing guide & casting instructor based in Colorado. He was an early adopter of tenkara in the West and has been fishing the method for a variety of species since 2009. Read more >>

TenkaraTalk Sponsors
Tenkara USA   Dragontail Tenkara     TAO Tenkara   Tenkara Tanuki Tenkara Fisher
Search by Category
Send Jason an Email
Search TenkaraTalk
Tenkara Talk Archives
Tenkara + Backpacking!
Is there any other sport that goes better with tenkara than hiking and backpacking? Be sure to also check out my ultralight and DIY backpacking gear blog.

Tenkara and Backpacking
Latest Posts
  • Tenkara Book
    Tenkara Today Book Review
    November 7, 2020
  • Tenkara Tanuki Retractor
    Tenkara Tanuki Retractor
    October 28, 2020
  • Hoo Rag
    The Hoo Rag
    September 23, 2020
© 2019 | TenkaraTalk by Jason Klass | All rights reserved