saddle alternatives?

[troutpoop]

OK, Going nuts. I have no black saddle hackle for dries. Any ideas?

 

[gfen]

troutpoop wrote:
OK, Going nuts. I have no black saddle hackle for dries. Any ideas?

Uhh, gonna take the obvious one here... the cape?

 

[SBecker]

LOL, I was going to respond the same way, but as a newbie, I thought I was wrong because it was so obvious.

 

[BrookieBuster101]

CDC? IVe been making the switch for a few reasons the main one being that I think CDC flies look sweet. But the other is they are not as expensive as saddles have gotten. They are also easier to tie with, not that hackle is hard to use but CDC is even easier.

Buy some Frogs Fanny and it will float like a cork.

I actually go through this stuff so much that I just bought a quart of Hydrophobic Silica on ebay for 20 bucks. Its the same thing just with out the brand name.

 

[troutpoop]

Well, my cape is pretty well shot, I've picked it clean of usable stuff. Are the capes any more available than saddles?
I'm not trying to be difficult just looking for ideas.

 

[SBecker]

Capes are not being coveted like the saddles. They are available.

 

[RowJimmy]

You should have no trouble finding capes.

 

[troutpoop]

thanks

 

[Ramcatt]

I was in a fly shop yesterday with 30 whiting 100 packs on the wall... Dun, cream, white, brown

 

[MKern]

ramcatt I think the ladies prefer the grizzley and dyed grizz.

I saw on ebay whiting 100's at a buy it now at $19 which was the MSRP before the hair craze. This was last week.

 

[RLeep2]

Individual hackles from natural black capes tend to be more webby than say, natural brown or ginger. You could get a dyed black cape and do well with it, but to be truthful, for the few applications I ever had for black dry fly hackle, my usual MO was always to take a blank sheet of paper and splay out a nice, stiff brown or ginger hackle in the size I wanted on the paper and then take a permanent broad-tipped black laundry marker or Sharpie to it until it was as black as I needed it to be.

The fish don't seem to mind..

 

[mcwillja]

BrookieBuster101 wrote:

I actually go through this stuff so much that I just bought a quart of Hydrophobic Silica on ebay for 20 bucks. Its the same thing just with out the brand name.

Brookie,

I just bought a quart of that stuff too. I haven't used it yet but it looks exactly like frogs fanny. I even refilled one of my bottles and hope to use it this weekend. Do you find it is the same stuff, because if it is, I may buy his gallon quantity.

Jason

 

[RLeep2]

I go to Bass Pro and buy the arrow fletch drying stuff. Same as Frog's Fanny and you get about 3 times as much for maybe a dollar more than a single container of Frogs Fanny would run you.

One thing with this stuff... When you're transferring significant quantities from one container to another, its probably wise to either wear a flu mask or hold your breath while its being done. One really good honk of that stuff that accidentally gets in your lungs and you've got a good start on a case of Silicosis, for which they can't do a whole lot medically