Hackle... Better than Cree?

[cheech 0]

I love Cree hackle, but Barred Dark Ginger is becoming my favorite... Curtis and I had a chance to visit Whiting Farms, and it was soooo cool!

 

[mikechell 0]

I've never seen a true "Cree" hackle ... just pictures. In those pictures, I've never seen why it's considered such a special feather.

When you consider just how little of it is used on a fly, any definitely barred feather would be just as good.

 

Now the feathers in the picture above ... THOSE are special. Not because of the barring, but because of that beautiful orange (ginger) coloring.

[Dave G. 0]

I like my Metz barred ginger but must admit it's not as close to as nice as those in the photo. My actual ginger cape is about the same tone as that is in the dark portions, course it's straight ginger, not barred and it's an old cape now, from back when feathers were never as long as those in the photo.. That bird would give 3 tyers 6 lifetimes worth of feathers at the rate I tie using ginger. I've never owned a cree skin though, it is beautiful...

[FIN-ITE 34 0]

Dave, what cree photo are you comparing?

[FlatsRoamer 0]

I saw you on Instagram!! You were having the iron fly tying thingy too right?

[vicrider 0]

Mikechell, cree is a special hackle and a great cape like that Whiting is really special in barred ginger or any other color. I paid premium for my Whiting cree but I've tied probably well over a 100 flies from 30 to 8 and you wouldn't think I've taken a hackle from the cape. Magnificent count, color and sizing and cree stands in well for those flies calling for a grizzly/brown mixed hackles. It's often called the One Feather Adams for that reason. On so many flies it just makes a great color whether as a neck hackle, palmered, or laid flat streamers. As beautiful as that ginger is it lacks the mix of colors you find in a cree.

 

It's kind of funny when I see people say or I read that, "If cree is so great how come no fly patterns call for it?". Because it used to be very rare and few tiers had a cree cape available. The classic flies that call for other colors like brown, brown/ginger mixed, barred ginger, might well have been developed with cree if it was readily available, which it still is not today.

[phg 0]

I've been using Charlie Collins' barred ginger for years. It is my favorite hackle. The barring isn't quite as dark as grizzly but when fanned out (by being wound around the hook), the effect is really "buggy". I also have a barred dun, which is quite a bit darker, and not as useful to me.

 

Cree is way over rated, but if you can afford it, go for it. It catches way more flytiers than it does fish....

[cheech 0]

I like my Metz barred ginger but must admit it's not as close to as nice as that cree in the photo. My actual ginger cape is about the same tone as that cree is in the dark portions, course it's straight ginger, not barred and it's an old cape now, from back when feathers were never as long as those in the photo.. That bird would give 3 tyers 6 lifetimes worth of feathers at the rate I tie using ginger. I've never owned a cree skin though, it is beautiful...

This is a barred dark ginger.

[cheech 0]

I saw you on Instagram!! You were having the iron fly tying thingy too right?

Yep. Just kind of an impromptu "tie-down" before dinner.

[cheech 0]

I've been using Charlie Collins' barred ginger for years. It is my favorite hackle. The barring isn't quite as dark as grizzly but when fanned out (by being wound around the hook), the effect is really "buggy". I also have a barred dun, which is quite a bit darker, and not as useful to me.

 

Cree is way over rated, but if you can afford it, go for it. It catches way more flytiers than it does fish....

Cree is fun to have.... But I agree that you can achieve similar results with other colors.

[Dave G. 0]

Dave, what cree photo are you comparing?

That was before my coffee kicked in LOL. No it's the barred ginger photo that cheech displayed compared with my Metz barred ginger which is an OK barred ginger but the ones in the photo appear to be superior. I've also edited that post but thanks for pointing back there !

[flyty1 0]

Days back, Cree was an almost "give-away" because it was a mutation color and there were no flies that really called for it. Then a video was produced where the fly tyer was describing a one-feather Adams (tied with Cree hackle). Of course, the demand and price of Cree went through the roof! And here we are...

[FIN-ITE 34 0]

 

Dave, what cree photo are you comparing?

That was before my coffee kicked in LOL. No it's the barred ginger photo that cheech displayed compared with my Metz barred ginger which is an OK barred ginger but the ones in the photo appear to be superior. I've also edited that post but thanks for pointing back there !

 

I thought it was MY coffee that hadn't kicked in yet and I was missing something.

 

I have a Whiting Bronze dark barred ginger cape that when compared to to my old Metz, looks like a saddle with the feather length.

[flytire 0]

Yup it's just a variant. People make it out to be the holy grail of fly tying

 

Very few patterns call for cree specifically

 

Barred ginger in that photo works for me

[cheech 0]

Days back, Cree was an almost "give-away" because it was a mutation color and there were no flies that really called for it. Then a video was produced where the fly tyer was describing a one-feather Adams (tied with Cree hackle). Of course, the demand and price of Cree went through the roof! And here we are...

Cree was in demand long before a video... The original Adams fly called for cree hackle, and it's in demand because it's a natural color that can't be dyed and it only happens about 1% of the time. Of those times it happens only a certain percentage will rank highly on the olympic grading scale, and some cree is better than others in regards to deep colors. Another interesting thing that Dr. Whiting was saying was that a cree bird that has a nice cree cape won't usually have a nice cree saddle and vice versa.