Cree Subsitutes!!!

[TitanFlies 0]

They have B-E-A-UTIFUL Dark Barred Ginger capes over at Feather-Craft from Whitings (Bronze Grade) that is almost identicle to the holy grail of dry fly necks: Cree.

 

I just picked me up 1 and can't wait to start tying with it! Some advantages to such a thing:

 

-Cost effective: you basically get 2 necks for the price of 1, Grizzly and Ginger!

-Hackling: now you don't need to double hackle your Adams or Humpys!

 

For those who don't know about the elusive bastard, Cree is so rare that even Doc Whiting himself only gets a .1% harvest yeild of it.

[Guest]

They have B-E-A-UTIFUL Dark Barred Ginger capes over at Feather-Craft from Whitings (Bronze Grade) that is almost identicle to the holy grail of dry fly necks: Cree.

 

 

Are you referring to the Medium barred ginger, I just checked their site and didn't see a dark barred ginger?

[TitanFlies 0]

If you direct yourself to the home page you'll see a dedicated box for the special they're running.

 

I don't know if this is O.K. to do and I'm sorry if I step on anyone's toes but...

http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php?stor...p;target=335591

[JSzymczyk 0]

I just got a "Pro-Grade" Dark Barred Ginger from JStockard. Absolutely gorgeous. Of course folks are going to argue that it is not "Cree" or that "Cree" really doesn't exist, or whatever. If you're looking for awesome hackle that has black, white, brown, and ginger bars, this is it.

[TitanFlies 0]

I just got a "Pro-Grade" Dark Barred Ginger from JStockard. Absolutely gorgeous. Of course folks are going to argue that it is not "Cree" or that "Cree" really doesn't exist, or whatever. If you're looking for awesome hackle that has black, white, brown, and ginger bars, this is it.

Good to know! And to be technical, Cree really doesn't exist in science, just in appearance. Since it's a varient of Grizzly, there's no solidified genome-makeup for the pattern; if there were, Cree would be just as popular as a Dun!

[rockworm 0]

I received mine a couple of days ago. Absolutely beautiful (and a great price). But its not a cree cape. I guess a purist would call it a "cree-like" cape because it has some cree feathers and some non-cree feathers. Fortunately most of the cree feathers are found in the small half of the cape. I, too, look forward to tying with my new treasure.

 

[David Legg 0]

I have a couple of pieces of Whiting Cree hackle. I will snap some photos and you can compare them... not enough difference to worry about, really, though the cape I have is the prettiest piece of Cree I've ever handled. It really has nice color. I have flipped most of the cree I've had over the years... just didn't like the colors as well as my dark barred ginger on most of them.

[David Legg 0]

As hard to find as Cree... Grizzly Gold Grade

for reference against cree substitute and cree

 

[David Legg 0]

Basic Cree Substitute... sometimes has some cree like feathers

Grizzly Variant

 

[David Legg 0]

Frequent Cree substitute...

Barred Dark Ginger

(On the left is a Ginger Variant with some Grizzly hackle... an odd matchup in those proportions... usually they are predominently Grizzly and are therefore Grizzly Variant.)

 

 

[David Legg 0]

True Cree Cape

 

 

[David Legg 0]

Cree cape alongside a Barred Dark Ginger half cape

Here you can get an idea of the difference between a Pro grade (the Cree) and a Bronze grade (the Barred Dark Ginger)

 

 

[David Legg 0]

Cree cape alongside a Cree saddle (this one is a Cree Variant, in reality, though it was marked by Whiting as a Cree)

 

 

[TitanFlies 0]

True Cree Cape

 

 

It's... beautiful! Those are some great pictures! Thanks a lot for posting those!

[David Legg 0]

I am not a huge advocate for Cree hackle. I think that some of it is very pretty, some is so so, and some is downright disappointing. Generally speaking, I think that Barred Dark Ginger is a prettier hackle. I think that an Adams looks better when tied with two separate hackles in most cases. And it is cheaper to tie with either the Barred Dark Ginger or with Grizzly and Brown combined. I also like Barred Dark Ginger combined with Grizzly.

 

There are other substitutes that people are using for Cree as well, and which are also a lot cheaper than Cree. One is Grizzly dyed March Brown, or dyed any pale brown, or ginger, burnt orange, etc., depending on preference. If all you want to do is tie Adams, the pattern never called for Cree anyway. And tying from a single hackle is just a gimmick, in my opinion. Most people end up buying Cree because they think it's pretty or cool, or whatever... not because they need it.

 

If you really want Cree, price it out, and then see if you still want it. Other choices are a better use of money in my opinion. Now, someone is probably going to read this and think, "hey, you say that, but you bought Cree."

True enough... I thought it was pretty, and cool, but I didn't really need it. But I have plenty of hackle, and had some money to spend.

 

Buy what you need first. When you don't need anything anymore, then buy what you want. Read my profile and you'll see where I started out with materials. That poor dog I had sure put up with a lot. Now I have enough stuff to last the rest of my life, most likely. These days I buy what I like... not what I need. When you've been tying over thirty years, you'll probably do the same thing. BTW... my current dog generously supplies me with some charcoal colored dubbing. I have a lifetime supply of that now too.

 

David <><