Tying in hackle feathers help.

[NickConwall]

Hi ya'll,
I was wondering if there is a good way to tie in and incorporate as neck hackle burnt feather fibers, the ones in the pic below are from a crow's flight wing, they are very wispy and move great in the water and I would like to use them in some smaller wet flies, the only problem being the stem as you can see is very thick. I have tried using a dubbing loop and inserting the feather, appyling some pressure, clipping off the feather fibers and then tying in the round but the feather fibers always end up all twisted and are every which way when wrapped around the hook even as I continue to stroke them back; the only way I have yet to counter-balance this is creating a larger thread head to lay them back but on smaller wets/spider type flies this creates a disproportionate looking fly.
Anyone have any ideas how to do this aside from clipping them one by one and adding them as I go?
Thanks for any help,
Nick

[AdamWellington]

You could try splitting the stem length-wise with a razor blade. I have read about a fly called the yellow-hammer (yaller-hammer) from down south that uses a split wing quill for a palmered hackle. You might find a how-to online.

[DaveSiejka]

clip a bunch of like 12 or so of the fibers and use 2 turns of thread to lock them into place as a clump. then from there it is still loose enough that u can distribute the fibers around the hook shank as u desire. A few mo9re turns of thread locks them in2 place so they will not move.

[Frank Swarner]

Soak it in water for a while, crack the tip and peel it. It usually works better before bleach burning and it does take a little practice, so don't use the good stuff right away.

[NickConwall]

danken sie