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Hackles?
- Thread starter Andre
- Start date
Andre,Andre said:
Whiting has the best genetics out there. With good genetics comes a longer usuable feather, higher feather counts, More barbs per feather, web free. etc...
You really can not go wrong with Hoffman, or with Hebert Minors.
You dont have to go crazy with their collecters necks but I would suggest going with their higher grade hackles. The higher the grades, the more flies you will get out of a neck in a range of sizes. If you do it right you can also get upwards of 3 flies off each feather. Now, if you do not need the variety of sizes and say you are only looking to tie up 14's and 16's, you are better off going with a high grade rooster saddle from Hoffman rather than a neck. It will have 5x the usable feather on it.
If you are ever comparing necks from farmer to farmer, you will see a big difference in feather counts off of Hoffmans. Turn the neck over and look at the little bump parts on the back of the neck. Everywhere you see one means thats a hackle. The more that are there, the higher the feather count. IF you have a high feather count and have a hoffman in your hand, you are looking at quite a few flies. A good quality neck should give you upwards of 500 flies. If you use the feather correctly, you can get as many as 800 flies off a really good neck.
Andre,
I like Whiting silver select, you don't get a lot of large feathers #4 or #6 but if you
are tying size #14 down to #24 you can get a lot of flies*. You can also get the silver
select in half capes which limits your outlay of money.
* 8 or more #22 tricos per feather
______________________
"Quit Wishing" "Go Fishing"
I like Whiting silver select, you don't get a lot of large feathers #4 or #6 but if you
are tying size #14 down to #24 you can get a lot of flies*. You can also get the silver
select in half capes which limits your outlay of money.
* 8 or more #22 tricos per feather
______________________
"Quit Wishing" "Go Fishing"
Andre,
I have 3 Hoffman #1 saddles, grizzly, Dun, and brown. They are great for tying size 14s to size 18s, as Larry said (very stiff with lots of barbules). I think Whiting bought out Hoffman a couple years ago, but not 100% sure. To give you an idea of how long the hackles are, I tied 7 or 8 Griffith's gnats from one grizzly hackle.
Bruce
I have 3 Hoffman #1 saddles, grizzly, Dun, and brown. They are great for tying size 14s to size 18s, as Larry said (very stiff with lots of barbules). I think Whiting bought out Hoffman a couple years ago, but not 100% sure. To give you an idea of how long the hackles are, I tied 7 or 8 Griffith's gnats from one grizzly hackle.
Bruce
I've got hackle from Whiting, Hoffman, Spencer, Docs, Collins and Conranch and I find all of it very nice. I really like the Conranch hackle and with no middle man to deal with it does run a bit cheaper. He also has some very nice hen hackle.
conranch hackle
Some of his duns are beautiful. Even a #2 through him ties lot's of flys. If you're looking for something particular just call or email him and he'll help you out. One time I was looking for a certain shading of brown and he emailed me photo's of 4 different necks and I picked the one I wanted and he sent it out to me before I had even mailed my check.
While I perfer his hackle I still use the others. One really nice thing with Conranch is you can buy whole skins which will give you the neck, saddle and all the other feathers, but you can see that at his site. Everyone has their own preference's when it comes to hackle but as babyblue said check out the article in Fly Tyer on hackle it was really good.
Hope this helps,
Fatman
conranch hackle
Some of his duns are beautiful. Even a #2 through him ties lot's of flys. If you're looking for something particular just call or email him and he'll help you out. One time I was looking for a certain shading of brown and he emailed me photo's of 4 different necks and I picked the one I wanted and he sent it out to me before I had even mailed my check.
While I perfer his hackle I still use the others. One really nice thing with Conranch is you can buy whole skins which will give you the neck, saddle and all the other feathers, but you can see that at his site. Everyone has their own preference's when it comes to hackle but as babyblue said check out the article in Fly Tyer on hackle it was really good.
Hope this helps,
Fatman
