I believe CdC was first used as a fly-tying material in Switzerland, so it seems fitting that these are proudly from Swiss ducks’ bums. CdC plumes are waterproofed by preen-gland oils, but they behave the way they do on and in water as much because of their structure of extremely fine filaments. Essentially, they make up a huge surface area which sits on the surface of water, hence we use them commonly for floating flies. Proofed with natural oils, CdC plumes don’t soak easily, so, if they get underwater, air bubbles get trapped in and around the fine filaments and when the barbs are finally wet they are so fine they move with in the least micro-current.

These are impressive, mostly lovely delicate shades, yellow and sage are richer, brighter colours. Apparently, Swiss CdC is dyed using natural dye-stuffs obtained from leaves, vegetable skins and the like. The end result is these delicate feathers seem to have suffered little or no ill effects from dyeing and feel oily from the pack.

To my way of tying, there are two main types of CdC plume, one for hackling the other for bundling. For hackling I look for long-stemmed feathers with short barbs at the tip, usually slightly pointed tips; those feathers go into a thread-loop, the barbs are cut off and the twisted loop is wound as a hackle. For bundling, usually to make wings, I want shorter plumes with square tips and finer stems. These packs seem to contain a healthy and handy if random selection of both feather types.

I like this selection of subtle colours and could tie happily with all of these. However, for me the star is Sage, a gorgeous, bright light-olive. Other colours are: Thea (light orange), Onion (dusty pink), Pomegranate (pinky-orangy), Noisette (pale brown-olive), Sand (light brown-olive, richer than Noisette), Evening Primrose (bright yellow), Ash (cold grey).