Mackerel Feathers LURES

like all good salmon and trout flies tie your mackerel feathers sparsely. Don't over do it with the feathers. The most important thing with mackerel feathers is the shiny hook flashing with in the feather. Discard rusty hooks.
Best thing about tying your own is you can use a strong nylon which prevents crack offs. Many of the shop ones are only tied on 25 -30lb, combined with a 5 oz lead a receipt for disaster.

Use anything!!

It doesn't matter what you use. I have found white feathers to out perform the rest and i've also had success on a bit of tinsel tied to a hook.
One thing is certain, err on the smallish side.I have fished one day with cod feathers with no luck, then I switched to feathers that were almost bare hooks just a hint of feather and caught loads.