Krome,
Marabou that is clumped on when the jig is tied, will stay clumped together in the water, palmered marabou jigs behave much better and retain their action in the water, even after many fish have been caught on them. Rabbit fur is much the same, if it is layed on in strips and tied onto the shank will not have the desired action, palmering the rabbit strips again is the key with this type of material and as for Schlappen (pronounced "Schlopin") is a good material for steelhead jigs, but is only used for ultra clear water/low flows, or for summer steelhead, this material lacks the bulk, or profile to be successful in the winter, when the visibility is more limited, the palmered Schlappen feathers have short barbs,(feather width) and unless you use... bait or plastic worms with your all Schlappen jigs, they dont produce very well in the higher water we fish most of the time in the winter steelhead fishery. as someone else stated the Schlappen feather works well for a collar for either marabou or rabbit fur jigs. another method to keep the action and profile of your marabou jigs is to palmer saddle hackle on first, and then palmer on the marabou, this keeps the marabou from laying down, and the jig holds its shape better in the water.

Fuzzy

Silent Approach Jigs