Fly Tying - Feathers That No One Has DARED To Try

Just another day at Klondike Fish Camp.

While waiting on the past 24 hours of continuous rain to finally let up I decided to tie up a few kokanee rigs and watch some NASCAR at the computer desk while the sky continued to lighten up. I had also been thinking about tying up some caddis fly patterns to match the hatch at Hidden Lake for the kokanee I had observed near-shore rising for adult caddis on the surface on my previous trip.

Then there was a brown/white flash in my left peripheral vision through the windows facing the river. I turned to find an adult male Bald Eagle sitting on my deck handrail looking through the door window. At first I assumed it might be interested in the suet cake I had hanging on one of the bird feeders....or perhaps was eyeballing one of my chickadees that were always around.

Males are huge up close. This one was easily the size of a 12 pound turkey. (Its actually standing on the handrail about six feet beyond the glass door.)  They get BIGGER! It turned its back on me and faced the river, now scanning the ground below the 2nd level deck it was on. That made it obvious what its intention truly was.

You see I'm plagued with squirrels here throughout the year. They are pests that damage property, get into things they shouldn't, and constantly raid my bird feeders of peanut butter and sunflower seeds. Our squirrels appear to raise 3 liters a year. None that visit here make it through their first year. I use non-toxic lead-free pellets in my air rifle at 1230fps. Most drop on the ground below the deck and spruce tree. And by the next day they disappear. You see, ol' Baldy and I have a pact. I'll supply the grits and he provides the disposal service. It's a great working relationship.

This eagle dropped down off the rail, walked over to where yesterday's 'harvest' was laying in the weeds and proceeded to fly off with #40. I remembered #39 was at the base of the birch tree in the front yard and proceeded to gather up that one too. By the time I got to the deck the eagle had returned and was waiting in the top of the neighbor's spruce tree. A couple of whistles, some waving of this meal I held by its tail and "the table was set." I dropped it on the ground and before I could grab the camera it had pounced on the prey and flew off with another meal for its chicks.

It's a never-ending supply of very fine squirrel tail dubbing.     Unfortunately I'll never be able to try out a Bald Eagle feather for a fly pattern. Federal law prohibits even possessing feathers or body parts of a Bald Eagle. So the mystery remains....what could you catch on a Bald Eagle Fly?

😂 you, my friend, are a poet! Great read 😊

That’s a beautiful friend you have there. What you talking about those feathers are brown crested Turkey vulture feathers from outer Botswana or was it Swahili ??   

That’s a beautiful friend you have there. What you talking about those feathers are brown crested Turkey vulture feathers from outer Botswana or was it Swahili ??

Those are protected feathers, too.  Check the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918...