Whiting Midge Saddles

[Service Tech 0]

Are they worth the money? Do they contain the same number of feathers as the regular saddles? What sizes can be tied from these saddles?

[RoyalWulff 0]

I am not sure, I always forget that midges require less hackle than a size 12 adams or a royalwulff. I am never used one of these saddles I may have to look into it.

 

p

[ashbourn 0]

I think this has to be one of Whitings BEST products. There are as many feathers as a normal Whiting Line saddle and can range in size from a 20 - 28. My first one was a 1/2 saddle and has ties me so many 100's of dozens of midges it was amazing. Since then I have aquired a bunch of these saddles and have not had that I did not like.

 

Joe Fox

[rockworm 0]

I have a couple of Whiting Midge Saddles and they are fantastic! They have at least as many feathers as a regular saddle (maybe more.) Most of the feathers are in the 18-24 range with a few smaller and a few bigger.

[flybug.pa 0]

I have a couple of Whiting Midge Saddles and they are fantastic! They have at least as many feathers as a regular saddle (maybe more.) Most of the feathers are in the 18-24 range with a few smaller and a few bigger.

yes they are,if you like tying small flies, tying and fishing the small stuff is my thing, They worked out well for me, your milage may vary depending on what you are into. rick

[threadpuller 0]

The # of flies will vary, but thier grading system is based on the # of flies the average person will tie from one. Ex. A Silver grade will tie more than a bronze ect. The quality is consistant through out the grades. Either way a Midge saddle is amongst the very best small dry fly saddles, with enough feathers to last the average tyer a long time.

[Lionus 0]

so...i just starting using my midge saddle. and I am kind of disappointing in it. (im sure it is a user error)

 

I am looking at all the feathers and they all have a very deep V which causes them to lay funny and in odd directions.

 

has anyone else experienced this?

[Johny Utah 0]

How are you wrapping the hackle? If your doing parachutes you need to have the v cup facing up. Wrap from top to bottom no turns over one another. If its palmered then you need it the same as well. If its traditional collar then you want want fibers going each way. If you don't your fly will ride on its face. Also remember to if your base that you wind the hackle on is bumpy then your hackle fibers will be splayed all about. I never have had a problem with whiting hackle winding when i follow these guidelines.

 

Remember if its a midge and your using whiting, your only gonna need 1-2 turns of hackle.

 

Hope this helps.

[rockworm 0]

Lionus

 

Yes, I have seen similar Whiting Midge feathers. I'm not sure which skin it was (I have half dozen.) But I think it may have been the grizzly. I do remember being annoyed, but I must have been able to work around the problem. I suspect it was only a couple of feathers. Or maybe the problem was only in the lower section of the feather.

 

Overall, I have been very pleased with this product (and enormously thankful that it was created.) Since these lines are undoubtably still being developed and refined, it is our responsibility to report such imperfections to Tom Whiting so that they may be bred out. I will check my stock and send the company details about this imperfection and it's prevalence.

 

If your saddle is totally unusable you may want to consider asking for a refund. These things are not inexpensive.

[Lionus 0]

Thanks for the tips guys. I started to look at the feathers, and it does seem to be more prevalent down towards the base of the feathers. I got extremely frustrated at not being able to do tie anything with it last night. Then took a break and started to figure it out.

 

Johny, you are right about the base being bumpy. I think this was one of the problems that I was having. That and trying to tie dry flies at sizes that I don't usually tie them at. Think I just need some more practice.

 

I am very impressed with the saddle otherwise. It is so much easier than dealing with tiny feathers off of capes.

 

Thanks for the help guys.