Hackle Purchase

[pwk5017]

I have been tying for two years, but have not delved too deeply into tying dry flies. One, I do not fish many dries. Two, the initial cost to begin tying dries(mainly hackle) is steep. $30-40 in nymph/streamer materials would allow me to tie hundreds of flies in the 10-12 patterns I consistently fish. It looks like a medium grade cape costs that much. Now, I am not saying I haven’t spent a couple hundred on really obscure materials over the two years, but I am still apprehensive about shelling out 50 bucks to get myself one color of hackle that I can only use for two specific patterns. If you were to purchase hackle for general purpose dries, what hackle would you purchase? Should I get 2 packs of whiting 100s to cover my needs sz12-18? Should I get a full saddle/cape? What color is going to go farthest for me? I am leaning towards the grizzly and natural dun, because it looks like those two could apply to a variety of colored patterns. I know I would be better off spending $10 at an online fly shop to suit my dry fly needs for the next 2 years, but I want to expand my tying horizons.

 

[McSneek]

Grizzly first and foremost. Dun would be good but I would get a light color too like white or cream to cover sulphur patterns. The Whiting 100s are a good idea. Although I use some hackled dry flies I fish a cdc or deer/elk hair comparadun more often. Consider tying those. A lot cheaper than hackled flies.

 

[Foxgap239]

+1 on Comparaduns. Pretty much the only Mayfly dry I now use and I catch my share of fish. I do use hackle for my caddis (brown), ants (black) and griffith's gnats (grizzly) but I think that may be all.

If you are really into trying hackle though, PM me, I have a crap load of necks I never use in all grades. I will give you a good price on what you may want. I think almost all are Metz.

 

[dryflyguy]

My most used necks are dun and ginger - and I don't think you could go wrong buying them.
The dun covers all of the early season mayflies - BWO's, blue quills, hendricksons, quill gordons - along with slate drakes and gray caddis.
Ginger covers all of the light colored mayflies - sulpher, cahills, and mixing with grizzly hackle for green drakes and gray fox. - and tan caddis.
I've been using #3 necks, which currently sell for about $35 now - and the flies look fine.

Foxgap - I'd be interested in any necks you want to unload

 

[Foxgap239]

dryflyguy wrote:
Foxgap - I'd be interested in any necks you want to unload

PM me your email address and I'll get some pictures together tonight. I have necks and saddles and I'll bet 3/4 of them have very few feathers removed. When I got into tying many years ago, I bought every color neck I could find, I just never got into tying with hackle once I found CD's!

Anyone else can feel free to PM me also if you want pics.

 

[MKern]

I love the whiting 100 packs, but to get every size and every color, you will have to shell out some serious bucks. However, you will rarely haev to buy hackle again.

I tie and fish mostly parachutes; because I think they represent a freshly hatched dun. So if I had to pick just 1 color of hackle it would be dun.

There is a tie for second: grizzly and medium ginger.

 

[pwk5017]

Hmm, I just had a bit of a "duh!" moment and remembered CDC existing as a material. I guess I was being a bit closeminded towards CDC. I am probably skewed, because of my time at penn state listening to the old timers/watching them demo and I remember Steve of FFP going off on CDC one evening. I think it scarred me. Ok, what are some good non-hackle patterns? I remember fishing a BWO pattern that had coq de leon tail, olive dubbed body and two little wings made of flank feathers I think. It was a good pattern for me this spring. I was under the impression that elk hair patterns almost always used a bit of hackle? My wallet likes the way this discussion is going : )

 

[Foxgap239]

To those who requested pictures, emails have been sent.

 

[FrequentTyer]

I've got to swim against the current here. I can't really disagree with anything that has been said, but for me the hackled dry is the quintessential trout fly. I mean no disrespected to the comparadun and CDC guys (well, maybe a little disrespect to the CDC guys;-). Those flys are effective and require skill to tie. But I just can't imagine giving up hackle completely. I know that I have a tendency to be a purist in these things, but I really believe that learning the techniques required to tie hackled drys builds a foundation that makes for better flys of any style.
I only use capes because you get a greater variety of sizes and usually can use some of the feathers for tailing (and I'm too cheap to buy saddles). If I had to limit myself to one cape, it would be a pale dun. This is just opinion so take it for what it is worth, but I think you could substitute pale dun into any pattern and get a reasonable fly. If I was going to add a three more they would be grizzly, rusty/reddish brown (preferably barred) and black in that order. I use black on a lot of terrestrials.
Having said all that, I would encourage anyone to tie with what they can get or afford. The idea that you can't tie pattern X unless you have hackle Y has always struck me as a bit silly. Will an Adams really be less effective if it is tied with only grizzly? And if you like a traditional pattern, why not try it as a comparadun? Just keep challenging yourself with whatever you do and work on the fundamentals.

 

[delta_dog]

^^^^^Amem to that^^^^^^
One of my favorite things to do when tying is to tie a certain pattern utilizing as many different techniques as possible. Some work some don't. The ones that don't work for trout ALWAYS work on bluegills :-D. I've come up with some really effective patterns substituting materials in fly recipes. Thats what makes tying so enjoyable for me.

 

[Tony300wby]

Whiting sells a introductory pack for around $60.00. It has four half capes in grizzly, brown, dun, and ginger. These colors will cover alot of patterns and being that they are capes/necks will have a broad size range.

http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php?store=feacraft&action=display&target=TK017

I agree with FrequentTyer. I use many different styles of dry flies, but will never be without hackled dry flies.

Good luck, Tony

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Stupid question about comparaduns. For you guys who tie them and don't tie traditional mayflies, how do you "match the hatch" so to speak? Do you just change the dubbing color of the body?

 

[dryflyguy]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Stupid question about comparaduns. For you guys who tie them and don't tie traditional mayflies, how do you "match the hatch" so to speak? Do you just change the dubbing color of the body?

Besides tying the proper size, you use different colored wings, bodies, and tails - just as in traditional flies. You're just omitting hackle

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Isn't the comparadun tied with deer hair?

 

[sandfly]

squashy, deer hair comes in different colors....natural and died !!!

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Gotcha. I've just never seen a comparadun tied with anything other than light deer hair or dark deer hair. I mean, I've had far more success w/ CD than with standard mayfly patterns, so the idea of tying more of them is appealing to me.