Jungle Cock quality

[Saltybum 0]

I have seen a lot of capes on ebay varying in prices from low to quite high.

My question is what exactly do you look for to tell if one looks better than the other. I know splits are not desirable but most seem to have some splitting.

[Rolf Jacobsen 0]

A very, very good tyer from another board had this to say. I agree.

 

 

"Bought an $85 neck from Estonia which i use exclusively for presentation flies.

The $65 necks will have more splits on the bigger feathers, and unless you're consistently tying Durham Rangers at 7/0 or 8/0 these will not be good enough. The smaller feathers on the cheaper necks make these well worth the money."

[agn54 0]

Number of splits is one. Good capes have fewer splits and top notch capes have very few. Also coloring can be a big difference between good and cheaper capes.

[Piker20 0]

I have seen a lot of capes on ebay varying in prices from low to quite high.

My question is what exactly do you look for to tell if one looks better than the other. I know splits are not desirable but most seem to have some splitting.

 

Ok, the first thing to say is catch a fish or two and the JC is split or has come off. So for fishing flies a feather with a single split is no big deal. Even one with a couple of splits isn't going to matter too much.

As Rolf says, for a fly that is going to be displayed a split is undesirable but if its going in a frame you can use cheats to 'fix' the split.

 

Now to the prices, you need to find a supplier who has a quality you like at a price you like. I brought a cape for 30 Great British Pounds and it has fewer splits than a cape in a local shop at 50 GBP.

A cape will be, or may be priced differently due to the deepness of the colour, some capes look washed out and should be cheaper. Some capes have lots of smaller nails and should be sold as trout sized capes, these usually cost a little less. A local shop whose clients are mostly well off salmon fisherfolk sells capes graded at AA for at least £40 more than other places because he knows money is nothing to his customers.

A cape with large nails that has no splits and a great colour will be useless if you only tie flies below #4.

 

For Trout flies a split nail is very useful because you can make that nail into 2 and use as cheeks for buzzers or on wet flies.

 

Guess that doesn't help you much more but look around, find a cape a friend uses you like and buy from their supplier or just find a cape you think looks good and is priced well and take a punt and see how it works out. You will definately be able to use the nails for fishing flies.

[flytire 0]

splits are fixable

 

[phg 0]

The other factor, no one has mentioned, is the number of nails on the cape. Just as some people have thin hair, some birds have fewer feathers on their bodies. Fullness of the cape, color and number of splits seem to be the major criteria.

 

Watch a few capes on eBay, and you'll begin to see what buyers prize in a JC cape. Even then, though, without handling the cape yourself, you're only guessing.

[Saltybum 0]

Very helpful info. Thanks

I fish mainly salt with most hooks being 4-1/0 so I'm guessing that for my purposes a seatrout or redfish won't be too picky at what I'm tossing.

[FlyFishin'Jam 0]

Interesting i have not bought a cape off the internet before, just from local shops inspecting what would suit me best, that being said you might even be able to find a half cape some trouty used for smaller nails which would contain plenty of bigger sized stuff suited to 1/0 that they have no use for. Seen it before, half used for ten bucks.

[Piker20 0]

Yeah if you know the sizes you're tying, a used cape can be a great bargain

[Saltybum 0]

Anybody here got one? I might be interested.