Soft Hackles

[silverfox]

I have about 1,500 soft hackles I need to get rid of. These are old Orvis stock. I'm not sure I want to get into splitting these up into small batches though I'd consider it. Any fly shop owners or others here who could use them for inventory? Otherwise, please make me an offer for the lot.

Here's the breakdown of what I have:

Pattern	qty
	sz 12	sz 14	sz 16
Partridge & Orange	83​	76​	74​
Partridge & Yellow	84​	82​	86​
Partridge & Green	81​	67​	64​
Grouse & Orange	86​	91​	87​
Grouse & Yellow	80​	97​	92​
Grouse & Green	91​	82​	69​
subtotal	505​	495​	472​
total			1472​

 

[Facemelted]

How old are these? Roughly.

 

[silverfox]

How old are these? Roughly.

Good question. I have no idea, to be honest. The hooks are clean, and the hackles are in good shape. I've used them and caught fish and they held up as good as newly tied soft hackles.

 

[redietz]

Why does it even matter how old they are? There are still soft hackles tied on gut snells in the 19th century (and these are obviously much newer) that are quite capable of catching fish. Unless the hooks are rusted, or they're moth eaten there's no "sell by" date on flies. (And I've seen month old flies that are both rusted and moth eaten.)

If it weren't for the fact that I have at least that many soft hackles that I've tied myself, I'd be interested.

 

[silverfox]

Why does it even matter how old they are? There are still soft hackles tied on gut snells in the 19th century (and these are obviously much newer) that are quite capable of catching fish. Unless the hooks are rusted, or they're moth eaten there's no "sell by" date on flies. (And I've seen month old flies that are both rusted and moth eaten.)

If it weren't for the fact that I have at least that many soft hackles that I've tied myself, I'd be interested.

On that note, the hooks shown in the example photo in the original post are representative of the condition. No rust. Nice, sharp, heavy wire wet/nymph hooks. Also, I'd be very interested in trades instead of money. I'm not sure what. No rods or reels (too many of those already). Possibly antique fly fishing items etc..

 

[gentleshepherd]

So these are new, not used?

 

[silverfox]

So these are new, not used?

Correct. New Old Stock.

 

[Steeltrap]

Age can mean a lot.....depending upon how they were stored. If subject to moisture (as stated above) rust can form on the hooks and weaken them. Or rust forming under the material can cause the material to degrade and last only a limited amount of cast.

Heat will also be a detriment. If they were subject to long term "summer" heat from not being stored in a cool(er) climate, the materials can become brittle (as well as any glue\cement) and limit the number of cast before coming apart.

Now, all that "naysayer" thinking goes out the window upon examination of the fly's. Silverfox has over 1,400 post on this forum, so the chances of him being a "shyster" would be slim to none.....and slim just left.

I would think his "record of post" would indicate he "knows of what he speaks" when it comes to the fly's quality.