Hareline Strung Peacock Herl

Peacock Herl should be considered a requirement on everyone’s tying desk. Nothing beats the natural iridescence of peacock herl. It is used in everything from nymphs and dry flies to streamers and bass bugs. Though it can be a frustrating material to work with due to its fragility, once you master it you’ll find an almost unlimited number of uses. Hareline’s Strung Peacock Herl is some of the highest quality available.

Uses

Patterns and Tying Techniques - Strung Peacock Herl is incredibly versatile. It can be wrapped to create bodies and thoraxes on nymphs and dries. Strip the fibers from the steam and the herl can be used to tie bodies on flies such as the Quill Gordon. It is also used as “topping” on streamers or as lateral lines on flies like Carrie Stevens’ Grey Ghost. It can be used as a wing as in the Steelhead fly The Alexandra.

Comparisons

Strung Peacock Herl vs Peacock Eye Sticks - Strung Peacock Herl comes stripped from feather and loosely strung together by the stems into a clump. Peacock Eye Sticks are the full feather intact with the herl still attached to the stem. The advantage of the Strung Peacock Herl is the volume and uniformity of the herls. If you need herl for topping or lateral lines choose Strung Peacock Herl. Peacock Eye Sticks have the advantage when you need to choose a specific herl for a fly; when you need a herl of a certain width and thickness you can pick the correct one off of the stick. Choose Peacock Eye Sticks for tying nymph and dry bodies.

Example Flies

Dry Flies, Nymphs, Streamers - Strung Peacock Herl is perfect for tying dry flies such as the Royal Wulff and the Renegade. It is used as a thorax on the American Pheasant Tail Nymph and on the Copper John. It is used as a body on the 20 Incher Stone and stripped as the body on a Quill Gordon. As a topping, it is used on Rhody Flat Wing and Leftys’ Deceiver. It is also incorporated into Salmon and Steelhead flies such as The Undertaker and The Copper Top.

Pack Size and Physical Description

Approximate Dimensions - These herls are approximately 5-7 inches in length with a width of roughly 1/16th inch.

Pack Size - The herl comes strung together roughly 6 to 8 herls deep and 4 inches wide for the large pack and 2 inches wide in the small pack. The pack dimensions for the large pack are 4 by 9 inches and the small pack is 2 by 9 inches.

**These sizes and dimensions may vary based on manufacturer changes**