Favorite hackle colors

[Flicted 0]

There are dun necks that cover light, medium, and almost black. A light and a medium should cover most of the flies you list. Depending on how light your light ginger is, that should work for a Sulphur but white or light dun would work. I like white for Renegades and a few midge patterns but I get the packs of long saddle hackles in white for those.

[tjm 0]

 

Hey guys, quick trick question for ya. What are your favorite hackle colors

"How big is a rock?" I like that.

Seriously what flytire said #8. You have some colors that in my mind are interchangeable, but none that fill the dark brown niche.I was going to say also a cream, but that light ginger should substitute.

 

In my old age I think I can tie all the dry flies I'll ever need for actual fishing with just grizzly. I'd like to also have a near black and light or rusty dun, but.. Very likely with the contrast of barring in a good grizzly (really any barred color) and the interference of the film on water a fish would take any pattern tied with just grizzly. An awful lot of what we go into in color and texture matching are for the tyer's benefit and gratification. Insects and other fish food comes in every shade of almost every color. We only need to look at fish caught on foam bugs or shiny metal to realize that realistic baits aren't necessary.

 

From the point of tying flies to be tying flies though and trying to tie other peoples patterns, then we would first chose a particular pattern and then procure the very materials called out in that pattern, even if cuckoo breast feathers are hard to find. If I substitute a material it won't be exactly the same fly, that may or may not matter.

[Flicted 0]

Agree. I don't use much artificial tail, wing, or hackle and although I have a few "Flicted" patterns I create, I usually enjoy sticking to the classic patterns and the original materials they call out. The fish could care less if it's dun hackle or grizzly on your BWO or if you have equal amounts of brown and griz on your Adams. I try to make every fly a "show fly" and like the comments in another thread, if it's not show quality, I call it a variant (or a cripple)

[redietz 0]

Hackle with a "list" in the center, such as furnace or badger add the appearance of a thorax to fly without actually adding a thorax. I use them a lot.

[Poopdeck 0]

Brown, black, cream, grizzly and dun are the only colors I use. I have no need for any other colors for catching fish.

[Mike West 0]

I don’t do a lot of trout flies anymore So it’s all warm water stuff with me.

Natural Grizzly

Light Brown Grizzly

Charturese Grizzly

Yellow Grizzly

That covers 80% of my tying

[DarrellP 0]

I have heard of guys who only use a parachute Adams or a Royal Wuff, period. I know other guys who carry a bunch of fly boxes. I am a bit of a hoarder of feathers, myself, and get bored tying the same flies.

[CasualAngler 0]

We have different colours here, some of which are considered "faults" by your hackle breeders. Also we have some old names for some colours. Such as "cuckoo" for grizzle. One which I have managed to find among genetic saddles is coch-y-bondhu (no one has a definitive spelling for the Welsh name for that beetle) Which is what you would call a coachman brown with black centre and tips.

 

There you have an example of two steps from the name we use. What you call Coachman Brown, we call Natural Red Game. Another "faulty" colour I have managed to get a small stock of is Honey Dun. A ginger speckled with blue dun.

 

A good number of years ago Terry Griffiths wrote an article about Dr Baigent's colour chart. Which accompanied his book, A Book of Hackles for Fly Dressing. This defined most if not all the colours of hackle used here. You probably will not find a copy of the book, only 60 were produced. This is the "chart" of hackle colours Terry Griffiths referred to in his article.

Baigent colours.jpg

 

As for favorites, well my most used are Red Game, Coch-y-bondhu, Grizzle, Badger, Blue dun, and black, for the naturals, I also like a bleached grizzle, the bars go ginger in bleach. Dyed colours I can't manage without a blue, Orange, black and red. I would like a grizzle dyed blue as a kind of sub for blue jay as the original has become so expensive. Then if I start listing colours for salmon flies I'll be here all day.

 

I suspect if you make a list, buy all that is on it and then don't buy anything other than replacements, you'll be the first fly tier to do so.

 

Cheers,C.

Is there a larger Photo available? EDIT 1613 MST: I found a larger one.

 

Thanks!

 

[tjm 0]

 

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[Moshup 0]

A nice speckled golden badger.

[CasualAngler 0]

 

 

 

Is there a larger Photo available? EDIT 1613 MST: I found a larger one.

 

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