What grade Whiting Hackle

[brianbailey1000 0]

What do most of you prefer for dry flies? Pro grade, SIlver, Bronze, Herbert Miner Silver Saddle? Haven't had to replace my dry fly hackle for awhile but have been tying quite a bit more.

[SBPatt 0]

I have an older Grade 3 ginger cape (probably equivalent to today's Bronze) that's as good as anything I've tied with and a Pro Grade barred cream that's just as good.

 

Regards,

Scott

[RodL 0]

Most of mine are Bronze with a couple of Silver grade, I haven't tried any of the Pro grade but I'm sure they are good but might not have as many feathers in the smaller sizes. I have no complants with the Bronze capes I own and the Silvers are great! I would say 75% of the drys I make use the Bronze grade hackle and most of my drys are in the 14-22 size range.

 

Rodney

[SBPatt 0]

I have an older Grade 3 ginger cape (probably equivalent to today's Bronze) that's as good as anything I've tied with and a Pro Grade barred cream that's just as good.

 

Regards,

Scott

[brianbailey1000 0]

Followup question. Is the Saddle best suited for sizes in the 20's? Cape better for #14-18?

[Crackaig 0]

Brian, You'll find that saddles will only tie a couple of sizes, but capes will give you a range of sizes. There are saddles that will tie down to the 20s, but they are not readily available. Mostly the saddles I have are 14 to 16.

 

Some years ago I was told (by a Whiting's dealer) that the pro grade was decided upon by the number of broken hackle tips in the cape. If it exceeds a specific number then it becomes a pro grade. So some that would otherwise be top grade capes end up as pro grade. Does the broken tip of the feather make a difference to a tier? Not really. They are too fine to be any use as wings. Therefore I would go with pro grade, BUT only if I can get my hands on them before I buy. That way I can weed out the higher grades.

 

Cheers,

C.

[DazWah 0]

i have pro, bronze and silver capes. Pro grade is just as good quality as any. Feathers arent as long, few broken tips and less feathers but for the price they are excellent and will tie many flies. They are economical if you want lots of different colours.

The good thing about genetic hackle is that every generation of birds gets a little better than the last. SO a bronze grade now will be a pro in a few years. So buy what you can afford.

[Jaydub 0]

I've been happy with the quality of the bronze and pro grade capes. The silver should have more <20 hackles. The last bronze saddle I bought (pre hair fad) had almost entirely size 16 hackles with a few size 18. I combed through it for a long time to find any size 14. I then got a Hebert pro grade saddle that had a lot of size 14s.

[whatfly 0]

As with others, considering the price of Whiting hackle I mostly buy Bronze grade. If you need #20, you should be able to get a bronze "Midge" saddle with a fair number of feathers in that range. This is something you would need to either size for yourself or order from a shop that knows what it is doing.

[rockworm 0]

My first consideration when shopping for Whiting necks or capes is the hue and distribution of colouration of the feathers. Since its Whiting, I already know I am dealing with a quality product. IMHO the grade doesn't really matter- if you buy a Silver you get more of the feathers you can use. If you buy Pro you will tye a few less flies but save a few bucks. With Whiting you get what you pay for.

[92Esquire 0]

I normally buy what I can find in stock in the color I'm looking for. F'rinstance, I had been looking for a saltwater Cree cape, and the first one I came across was a Bronze. I'm very happy with it.

 

If I'm buying online, I'm more likely to buy a higher grade cape as insurance. I've got a couple of silver grade dry fly capes that have been outstanding for the smaller dries I normally tie.