Glad you like the fly.....
i know who you mean........nice cat. He gave me one of his Squid flies a couple years ago, at the Danbury, Conn. show. We've hung out.....he was bout to open a resturant at the time. Very gifted tyer.
Far as Rhea goes........it's hard to find for most folks, if they don't travel. You can get it off the internet.....but it's not the kinna thing you wanna buy sight unseen "in hand." It's usually bout $9.oo a feather, so you really need to look at it up close, live and in person before you spend. i buy it out west......but Montana is not far enough west.......you gotta get to at least western Idaho.........easy to find in Washington and Oregon.........Steelhead country. There's a guy who shows up (with a booth), at some of the western shows, who has a fly shop in Idaho called the Red Shed.....he always has it.
That trick for wraping it is a pain in the butt, but it works. You have to strip it off the rachis by peeling it.........not that hard but then it wants to curl.....hence the pain in the butt when wrapping. Personally i'd rather find my own ways of using materials, rather than just copying what others do.....if, and whenever possible. It's like a social event or whatever.............when most people are dressing up.....i'm dressin' down.
