They may swim well however I think you'll find your trailer hook will tangle those hackle tip tails quite often unfortunately. May also tangle the bend of the hook you left, need to cut them off a lot closer to where there is no bend and also file the sharpness down if possible because it can cut the braid
They actually don't swim quite as well as rabbit fur. However I do not notice a lot of tangles with the hackle tips at all. You are right that I should cut and file down those hook bends some more.
A good thing with this fly is that I could throw it on a single hand rod with little effort.
Thanks for your input nevertheless, but I think you totally missed the point of the post:
to create something out of what's lying around and still have confidence fishing it. If I want to tie a MOAL or pink marabou popsicle I 'd buy the material and work on that.
Steelheads are not fuzzy, we are.