these are no. 6. sorry I totally.forgot to get back to you. I personally only use loose neck hackle for feathers. they are a little more webby on the tips than saddle hackle which fills out and swims better. I have seen saddle hackle jigs and some guys use them to get 2 jigs off the same feathers but I dont like to hurt quality to boost quantity. also I do tend.to like a regular nylon thread size b to tie with. you cannot wrap as many times since the thread diameter is larger than say a size a or a 210 flat waxed denier, but it is easier to cover the cut end with. I also dont wrap my starting thread more than an 1/8 inch or so as the feathers tend to slide a bit when you start to do your tension wraps. if you make your windings too big at the start you will have too much thread neck. if you.use regular nylon thread this wont be as much of a problem than if you use a denier thread. on my jigs I flatten the sides and use 3 d eyes, which if done right sets the jig apart from any other jigs this type anywhere. I am currently the only copany that offers this, at least around here. it does come at a price though. it is way more time consuming to do this than opposed to the regular painted eye. with a flattened round jig it can be hard to get the eyes to stick on permanently. my rule of tuumb is to flatten to where you think its flat enogh then squeeze it just a little more. you will be suprised how much the paint absorbs the indentation. when I do my eyes I use 2 coats of top coat polish minimum. humidity will ruin the finish so I reccomend to do this inside. after the second coat is very close to being completly set I put the hole thing in the oven, feathers and all for 12 minutes @ 175 degrees to really set it. try a couple first to test it. one thing to watch for is if you see any air pockets or air bubbles in the overcoat. if you do drop the temp or the time. different top coats and paints will react differently I have found. by baking the final product yoh are essentially curing the.top coat which will help the eyes adhere to the jig better than just air drying. if you are lokking to just do the "traditional chiken jig", then black painted.eyes are fine, I like testors model paint. oh and for the feathers I use 4 per jiig and dont like the fat round tips. wispy and pointed are best. again, im probably too picky but thats why I tjink my jigs are better than the mass produced ones. have fun and experiment. endless combos. flash and rubber are good things to add to them. if you have any other questions hit me up. hope I.helped.
