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MikeQ716

What are these feathers/hackles?

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Hey everybody..

 

Recently I was given a decent sized bag of feathers/hackles...and I'm not entirely sure what they are. Some are like a dry fly hackle, others are more rounded and webby....

 

Pics are attached.

 

Thanks in advanced.

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Looks like you got the remnants of one of these packs. About $20.00 for the whole pack.

 

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The rounded feathers might be either rooster or hen body feathers. That red colored barred saddle is probably not dry fly hackle, but should work well on patterns such as Woolly Buggers or even on some streamer patterns. I like that type of hackle for bass and saltwater flies for patterns such as Seaducers, or Flatwing streamers.

 

I've yet to obtain any feather type that I couldn't use for some type of fly and I don't like to see anything wasted. Body feathers are generally soft fiber, so work well on subsurface patterns, particularly as collars. Of course, choose the feather to fit the fly/hook size so you get good proportions.

 

You will find as you obtain more materials that there will be some you either won't use often or at all depending on the type of flies you need. The larger the variety of patterns you tie, the more types & size of materials can be utilized. Those large body hackles might be good for larger size flies ( size 6 or larger hooks) such as used for bass, Steelhead, or even possibly some salt patterns, but may not be well suited for small size trout patterns ( size 10 & smaller). However, there's always exceptions.

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Looks like you got the remnants of one of these packs. About $20.00 for the whole pack.

attachicon.gifvariety pack.jpg

 

Those variety packs work great for tying up poppers. Several in them also work good for wooly buggers and such. You can also throw any of the grizzly feathers in streamers for some barring.

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Exactly what Mikechell said, I bought one when I first started and found most of what I got to be poor quality and one of the skins was so dirty that it didn't even wash out of the feathers and got tossed out.

 

tidewaterfly said it, you can use most of the stuff for soft-hackles or for jewelry flies, and it looks like you got a bit of a ginger saddle, that will be nice for buggers and tails on bass poppers, and the yellow cape looks like a saltwater neck, that works well on bass fly tails as well.

 

I consider what I did as "stupid tax", which means I bought something that I really didn't need, and bought because I thought it was a deal, only to find out it was pretty much a bust.

 

When purchasing materials, know what flies you want to tie and get the materials for that fly, and not try to score "great deals", unless you know that you can use the stuff. I made that mistake many, many times over when I first started tying and have a room full of crap to prove it. I bought a box full of taxidermy scraps that turned out to be ok, because I got some antelope, black bear and buffalo hide, but a lot of the other stuff I haven't been able to come up with a use for. It's that bug that I got when I first started out and thought I had to have all the stuff I saw, not knowing what I would use it for in the future and it has come back to bite me in the ass a few times via cost and storage space.

 

If you want to know what to buy, stick to the basics and do a search on here, depending on what you are tying for there are threads that have a list of the basics that can be used in many different patterns and are readily available on ebay or at craft stores.(don't buy marabou from craft stores, it sucks)

 

Good luck and always ask "Do I need this" before purchasing it.(Wish I'd done that).

 

Blane

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Good luck and always ask "Do I need this" before purchasing it.(Wish I'd done that).

 

Blane

 

He didn't buy it; it was given to him. I could every feather shown.

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Without better pictures and some reference of size, it is hard to tell if you have any hackle that can be used for dry flies. You may have some but it will probably be for sizes like 8-10.

You certainly have plenty of material that can be used for warm water flies, ( bass, pickerel (small pike flies) and saltwater flies).

I see plenty of bugger and matuka hackle there for sure so start looking up some YouTube vids that show typical feather profiles that you have.

Good score.

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I've picked up a couple of those Whiting packs over the past couple of years. I was pleasantly surprised by them. Lots of various colored hen feathers that I've been able to use as soft hackle or for feathered game changers. Also lost of rooster hackle that's been great for poppers or buggers or even the schlappen-ish feathers for complex-twist buggers. Not really much in the way of dry fly hackle besides a couple of cape tops with some really small sized hackle. Even some Coq de Leon for tails. Maybe I've gotten lucky, but I've like how those packs have encouraged some creativity on my part.

 

That ginger saddle will make some great buggers! I'd love to see what you come up with.

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I've picked up a couple of those Whiting packs over the past couple of years. I was pleasantly surprised by them. Lots of various colored hen feathers that I've been able to use as soft hackle or for feathered game changers. Also lost of rooster hackle that's been great for poppers or buggers or even the schlappen-ish feathers for complex-twist buggers. Not really much in the way of dry fly hackle besides a couple of cape tops with some really small sized hackle. Even some Coq de Leon for tails. Maybe I've gotten lucky, but I've like how those packs have encouraged some creativity on my part.

 

That ginger saddle will make some great buggers! I'd love to see what you come up with.

I agree completely.

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Hi MikeQ716,

Starting with your pictures from the left: 1. trim from a Whiting brown furnace "laced hen cape," 2. barred ginger saddle with most of the better feathers removed (also purple cape, yellow, brown Whiting furnace hen feather, trim feathers patches), 3. repeat of 1, 4. natural dun trim pieces from the sides of capes, 5. yellow cape trims, 5. brown Whiting furnace from a "laced hen cape," 6. table full of Whiting trim patches as already identified from one of their bulk bags. Take care & ...

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