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Post by NickConwall on Mar 10, 2010 17:52:06 GMT -5
Hi all, I was wondering if there are any cheaper alternatives for dry fly hackle akin to Whiting's 100 packs. What i would love to find is a reasonably priced sort of combo-pack of hackles wherein would be a few of each size/color for instance a pack consisting of a few hackles of both grizzly and brown for size 18-12 hooks. I've been looking around online and it seems like I either have to spend a small fortune for quality & variety or spend less but end up with what appears to be a grab-bag of all sorts of feathers I wouldn't need. If it does come down to getting just one for now (money's tight)  of Whiting's 100 packs does anyone have a recommendation for which size/color would be best for tying a variety of sizes, I was thinking like 14 in the grizzly. Thanks for any & all help, N- |
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Post by cluster on Mar 10, 2010 20:59:41 GMT -5
I would recommend CDC. No need for specific sizes. tye them comparadun style and you're golden. floats great.
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Post by Tony Medina on Mar 11, 2010 0:10:20 GMT -5
You could try the whiting beginners intro packs that they sell. They go for 60$ and include I believe a grizzly, brown, dun and ginger 1/2 capes. The price is right, the only thing about them is they are pro grade rated 1/2 capes so they fall just under bronze.
From the Whiting Farms website it says that the pro grade capes range in feather size from 10 - 16 with the "sweet spot" of the cape being in the 12- half way through the 16 range. So these won't have those 18's you're looking for. Not sure how many flies on average it will tie as the chart they have on their site does not include this grade.
As with all whiting products the quality will be the same so you will be getting just as good a feather as any in the whiting line. The grading system comes into play in regards to several factors but mostly from what I understand It's the range of sizes, feather count and number of flies each cape is expected to tie that will let a particular cape find it's place on the grading line.
I was looking into these myself a while ago but I already had the dun and brown at the time so i just went ahead and spent the 60$ on a griz and cream 1/2's in bronze grade.
So the range of feathers are not huge obviously on these half capes in their grade but you do get the variety of colors you are looking for at a good price.
Just throwing the idea out for you to consider. Good luck with your search boss.
Tony
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Post by Nick Pionessa on Mar 11, 2010 7:53:38 GMT -5
another product that replaces dry fly hackle is snowshoe rabbit feet. much more durable and easy going than CDC and cheaper too. CDC is a great product but is a little fussy in the handling and once a fish slimes it it's tough to float again till it totally dries out. snowshoe is extremely durable and floats immediately after hooking a fish with it. takes a little time to get good at handling it for tying but it's worth it.
another hackle product that is economical and gives a bit of a size range are the whiting quarter saddles. you get a few sizes of hackle instead of just one as with the 100 packs and they are $10 cheaper than half necks. they don't have the entire range of sizes on each quarter but typically three sizes.
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Post by whatsajob614 on Mar 11, 2010 8:20:06 GMT -5
What about the hackle for size 20 and below?
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Post by Adirondackflytyer on Mar 11, 2010 10:06:50 GMT -5
Hi all, I was wondering if there are any cheaper alternatives for dry fly hackle akin to Whiting's 100 packs. What i would love to find is a reasonably priced sort of combo-pack of hackles wherein would be a few of each size/color for instance a pack consisting of a few hackles of both grizzly and brown for size 18-12 hooks. I've been looking around online and it seems like I either have to spend a small fortune for quality & variety or spend less but end up with what appears to be a grab-bag of all sorts of feathers I wouldn't need. If it does come down to getting just one for now (money's tight) of Whiting's 100 packs does anyone have a recommendation for which size/color would be best for tying a variety of sizes, I was thinking like 14 in the grizzly. Thanks for any & all help, N- Metz sampler packs. Come in 3 or 4 different color combos with 3 colors in each pack. The one I purchased had brown, grizzly and light dun. Think I paid $29 |
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Post by VERNBURM on Mar 11, 2010 12:55:39 GMT -5
whatsajob......I believe Whiting now carries midge saddles........
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Post by VERNBURM on Mar 11, 2010 13:00:32 GMT -5
Some Whiting propiganda I came across:
It's hard to believe that Whiting could produce a saddle that has 80% of its feathers in size 18 or smaller, but they have! These quarter bronze saddles are perfect for midges and any small dry flies. Each feather is uniform in size and they are remarkably web free with a high barb count.
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Post by whatsajob614 on Mar 11, 2010 13:51:37 GMT -5
That's exactly what I'm looking for Verno. Thanks brother!
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Post by k clancy on Mar 11, 2010 16:21:16 GMT -5
Genghis, no one has mentioned this so far -
depending on how tight the money is, you could get a 1/2 neck, it will give you a pretty good range of sizes and if you get a light dun or pale grizzly color you could conceivably dye some of the feathers for brown/cree/darker dun.
But, as Nick said,, snowshoe, deer & elk hair are a lot cheaper, available in a myriad of colors and comparaduns work great
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of Whiting's 100 packs does anyone have a recommendation for which size/color would be best for tying a variety of sizes, I was thinking like 14 in the grizzly.
