The Unsung Starling

Eugene Schieffelin (1827-1906) loved Shakespeare a little too much. He decided that all birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays deserved a home in the United States, so in 1890 he released 40 pairs of European starlings in New York’s Central Park. Their progeny have become one of the most reviled avian pests. But there is a tarnished silver lining to the story, at least for fly tiers—starling feathers make excellent soft-hackles and other flies.The dark purple-green feathers on the neck, breast, and shoulders of the bird are perfect for wrapping hackle collars on midges (a starling skin has plenty of #18-22 feathers—unlike the more expensive hen capes and Hungarian partridge skins). Most of these feathers have white tips that appear custom-made for being gripped with hackle pliers and for reminding tiers not to overdo the number of hackle wraps. (Sparse and then sparser is the usual rule for tying soft-hackles.) The soft, wispy fibers make ideal hackle beards on nymphs and wet flies. Varnished versions of the white-tipped feathers can also be used as a substitute for jungle **** on Jassids and on traditional steelhead and salmon flies. The pale, delicate dun feathers on the undersides of the wings work well for lighter-colored caddis and mayfly imitations. Tiers can even use the flight quills for winging tiny wets. Winter Patterns and Techniques Trout feed on midges, even on ice-cold days, and tiny starling feathers can put life into the threadbare patterns used to imitate them. Because the takes can be hard to detect, fish these midges dead-drift under an indicator and watch for subtle strikes.To tie a simple starling midge imitation, wrap a #20-24 hook with silk or nylon thread to create a slim abdomen, then build a small thorax with dubbing or peacock. Add a turn—or at most, a turn and a half—of starling hackle, and whip-finish. If you want to get fancy, segment the abdomen with fine wire and tie in a bit of white polypropylene or Antron yarn that protrudes over the hook eye to simulate a breathing tube.For another simple but effective midge pattern, use vinyl tubing for the abdomen. Add a black tungsten bead to a #16-24 curved scud hook and wrap a thread base that covers 1/3 of the shank. Clip a bit of small vinyl tubing, lash it to the top of the hook, and wrap thread under the rear portion to prop up the tubing at 45 degrees. Clip the vinyl so it extends just beyond the hook bend. Dub a small thorax of beaver or fine synthetic dubbing (or peacock herl) and wrap a sparse starling feather collar. Black, gray, olive, tan, and green vinyl bodies all work, but my favorite is red.If you tie these midges with tan or light olive dubbing, the wispy, frail, and tiny light dun feathers on the underside of the starling’s wing will complement the thorax color. Winding these frail feathers is much easier with an inexpensive wire-clip tool than with conventional hackle pliers.By February, tiny black stoneflies are active on sunny afternoons. Hikers, cross-country skiers, and the swelling ranks of winter fly fishers have all seen them scampering across the snow, looking like wood ashes come alive. Trout sometimes position themselves in the shallow tailouts of deep pools where the sunlight can raise the water temperature just enough to make things happen. Stay back from the bank and watch for a while. You may see trout push bow waves in the shallow water as they chase the “snow fleas” right up to the bank. No, they’re not muskrats—they’re trout—and you can catch them with two simple #16-18 starling patterns.The Starling and Herl has a tiny tag of gold or silver tinsel and a peacock herl abdomen ribbed with fine gold or silver wire for durability. When creating the abdomen, first tie in the herl and twist it onto the tying thread. Wrap the herl and thread on the hook together. Add a turn or turn and a half of dark starling to complete the fly. The Starling and Purple is another favorite that produces all year, but seems to work especially well in winter. Use purple silk thread or floss for the abdomen. If you use floss, split it into strands with a sewing needle. The abdomen must be sparse and counterwound with fine gold or silver wire. Twist a single strand of peacock herl onto the thread to make the thorax, and finish the fly with a sparse collar of dark starling. A reliable spring and summer version of this pattern, called the Snipe and Purple, substitutes a pale dun underwing feather for the darker feather used in the Starling and Purple.To mimic natural stoneflies, fish these flies so they swing toward the streambank. Let them get close to the bank before beginning another cast, because trout sometimes hit them inches from shore. Spring and Summer Patterns and Techniques Once the “sweet of the year” arrives, trout become more aggressive and feed actively on three main hatches in the East Quill Gordons, Hendricksons, and March Browns. The basic Pheasant and Starling works well for all three. The fly starts out like a Pheasant-tail Nymph, with fibers from a **** pheasant’s tail feather tied in for a stubby tail and then twisted together and wrapped to make the abdomen. You can wind the fibers into a rope with brown or dark olive tying thread for durability or counterwind a fine copper wire rib to add a little flash. Dub a blend of dark hare’s ear and Antron for the thorax or use the guard hairs from the back fur of a fox squirrel. Finish the fly with a sparse, dark starling collar. As Sulphurs and Blue-winged Olives (BWOs) get active, starling feather soft-hackles work well. Make the bodies sparse, using yellow or olive silk floss counterwound with fine silver or gold wire. On the Sulphur, build a thorax of fine yellow dubbing with a smidgen of orange dubbing. For the BWO soft-hackle, use fine gray or tan dubbing and a pale-dun feather from the underside of a starling wing for the collar. I fish the #16 Sulphur Starling when Sulphurs are hatching and a #18 or smaller BWO soft-hackle until the BWOs disappear in October. In high summer, trout move into the shadows cast by streamside shrubbery, and the fish often hold in shallow water near the bank. The trout are not there just to enjoy the shade. Any gust of wind sends ants and beetles tumbling into the drink, and the fish sip them quietly all day long. Sometimes a subtle blip or a dark trout nose pokes quietly through the surface to mark the take. These bank feeders do not want to be noticed. Tie the Peacock and Herl in large (#10-12) and small (#16-20) versions for deadly beetle imitations, but omit the tinsel tag and wire rib. Make the peacock herl thorax chunkier by twisting four or five pieces of herl onto the black thread to form a rope. After winding a plump abdomen, use bottle-green starling feathers for a hackle collar, and whip-finish. Get the trout’s attention by making the fly come down with a splat. Larger fish have learned to avoid making themselves conspicuous and prefer sunken to surface food because they get the same return for less risk.