Parachute Adams

[SilverCreek 0]

what is Cree dry fly hackle? a color?

 

 

This is what a current cree looks like. Notice that the Silver Grade saddle is much darker than the Bronze Grade Neck. It looks almost too dark, but when you wind the saddle hackle on the fly, it has the great separation of white vs barred brown that a true Adams should have.

 

The hackles that look great on the skin look more washed out then the fibers are separated and wound on the fly. This saddle is a fantastic cree with hackle that "pops" on the fly

 

That is why I like to look at all the hackle that I buy and I want to spread the fibers out to see how the hackle would look when wound on a fly and NOT when the hackles are next to each other on the skin.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is an older cree that I bought about 30 years ago. It is a Hoffman Cree which is the predecessor of the Whiting line of hackle. Whiting bought out Hoffman. Notice that the color looks great on the skin but the darker saddle above looks better on the fly.

 

[Jaydub 0]

what is Cree dry fly hackle? a color?

 

Here is one answer http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/cree.php

[SilverCreek 0]

If you look at the older "Cree" in my post, you will see furnace and Grizzly. In fact you will see that a single feather turns from cree to furnace, or grizzly to furnace and back again. So you can deduce that the furnace and grizzly feathers are the reversion to the underlying pure line of parentage.

 

 

I once read somewhere that cree is NOT a pure breed but the result of a cross breed between brown/furnace and grizzly and only 10% of the crosses result in rooster that has cree hackle. So the high cost is NOT the cost of raising the cree bird but of the cost of breeding and raising the male chicks until you know that the result is the 1 in 10 that is a cree and then having to destroy the other 9.

 

This "higher cost and waste of resources in getting a single cree is why they are a rare hackle. Why raise Cree when you can get 10 pure breed nest and saddles? They do it because it is a challenge and raising a good cree neck showcases their skill in cross-breeding. One certainly does not pay 10X the cost of a normal neck for Cree. Each Cree is really a bargain.

[McGnat 0]

Beautiful feathers.

[Stevester 0]

I have the same recollection as Silver Creek about why Cree is so rare. If you really want a cree color neck you need to develop a close personal relationship with your hackle supplier so that IF he gets a some from his supplier (possible but not real likely) he will give you a call late at night to go to the shop before anyone else hears about it. Or you could call a breeder/grower who will sell to you directly and see if anyone already has dibs on the dozen or so he might produce in the course of the year. I have been stalking Charlie Collins' display in Somerset for the last decade and the closest I have gotten is dark barred ginger that is sort of close to a cree. I think he told me once that he gets maybe a couple of dozen true cree a year.

 

Steve

[vicrider 0]

I'm in agreement about the hackle wound closer together but other than that, the prettiest and best tied contest winning Adams will still be a wreck after two trout chew on it...but it will go right on catching fish. I find it hard to believe a fish can measure the width of the back of the fly versus the thorax and in all but stillwater conditions any reasonably tied version of the Adams is going to take fish. I'd tie your fly on fishing any stream anywhere. A lot more practice will make the fly look better in pics or catalogs but won't get you any more fish.

[pnptrapp 0]

What size hook is it tied on? What kind of hook?

[jfinn 0]

Size 12 not sure what brand this one is, most likely bass pro shop dry fly hook

[cheech 0]

 

what is Cree dry fly hackle? a color?

 

 

This is what a current cree looks like. Notice that the Silver Grade saddle is much darker than the Bronze Grade Neck. It looks almost too dark, but when you wind the saddle hackle on the fly, it has the great separation of white vs barred brown that a true Adams should have.

 

The hackles that look great on the skin look more washed out then the fibers are separated and wound on the fly. This saddle is a fantastic cree with hackle that "pops" on the fly

 

That is why I like to look at all the hackle that I buy and I want to spread the fibers out to see how the hackle would look when wound on a fly and NOT when the hackles are next to each other on the skin.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is an older cree that I bought about 30 years ago. It is a Hoffman Cree which is the predecessor of the Whiting line of hackle. Whiting bought out Hoffman. Notice that the color looks great on the skin but the darker saddle above looks better on the fly.

 

 

AWESOME CREE MAN!!!

[Ty Flyer 0]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but if a fish is under a parachute, regardless of the color hackle that is used, wouldn't it just see black hackle because of the shadow falling on the water?

[SilverCreek 0]

The fish see the color of the hackle in two ways.

 

First the hackle rests on the meniscus and this bends/tilts the meniscus so the fish can see the hackle color even before the fly gets into the trout's window. This tilt of the meniscus creates small windows through which the fish cane see the color of the hackle that is even ABOVE that water,

 

Trout can see the color of the abdomen of a mayfly that is resting on the water in the same way. So the hackle color is REFRACTED through the meniscus so the fish sees it.

 

Secondly, light is reflected up to the water surface from the rocks, vegetation, and the river bottom. So this REFLECTED light comes up from below and illuminates the underside of the hackle. If it were not so, everything that is above a fish lying on the bottom would be just a black shadow. Clearly it is not.

[mikechell 0]

Secondly, light is reflected up to the water surface from the rocks, vegetation, and the river bottom. So this REFLECTED light comes up from below and illuminates the underside of the hackle. If it were not so, everything that is above a fish lying on the bottom would be just a black shadow. Clearly it is not.

I agree with part of your statement, but I have to disagree with this conjecture. The underside of a fly is lit not by light reflected from the bottom structure, but by the diffraction of light through the water. Even in deep water, where the bottom cannot possibly reflect all the way back to the surface, the underside of a fly is still lit up by light reflecting all over within the water column.

[the.atmos 0]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but if a fish is under a parachute, regardless of the color hackle that is used, wouldn't it just see black hackle because of the shadow falling on the water?

You're 100% correct. That is why shape and presentation is more important than color. The trout will only see the color until it's close enough to open it's mouth to take the fly.

 

It's like a jetliner at 30,000 feet. You know it's a plane, but you can't necessarily make out what model or color or etc. Such is the same with a dry fly on the top. If the shape and presentation is there, the fish is thinking, "I know it's food, I just hope it's that one mayfly that I like". That is the way I think of it. And not to be conceited but my way of thinking has done well for me on the water.

 

There's just nothin' purtier than a dozen Cree hackled Adams sitting in a pile, though.

[phg 0]

 

Please correct me if I am wrong, but if a fish is under a parachute, regardless of the color hackle that is used, wouldn't it just see black hackle because of the shadow falling on the water?

You're 100% correct. That is why shape and presentation is more important than color. The trout will only see the color until it's close enough to open it's mouth to take the fly.

 

It's like a jetliner at 30,000 feet. You know it's a plane, but you can't necessarily make out what model or color or etc. Such is the same with a dry fly on the top. If the shape and presentation is there, the fish is thinking, "I know it's food, I just hope it's that one mayfly that I like". That is the way I think of it. And not to be conceited but my way of thinking has done well for me on the water.

 

There's just nothin' purtier than a dozen Cree hackled Adams sitting in a pile, though.

 

...Only if it is back lit by the sun or a very bright sky. Most of the time, at least when trout fishing small streams, the light is defused, and, while the underside may be darker, it is still lit well enough for the fish to see color.

 

Color does matter, except when it doesn't....

[the.atmos 0]

 

 

Please correct me if I am wrong, but if a fish is under a parachute, regardless of the color hackle that is used, wouldn't it just see black hackle because of the shadow falling on the water?

You're 100% correct. That is why shape and presentation is more important than color. The trout will only see the color until it's close enough to open it's mouth to take the fly.

 

It's like a jetliner at 30,000 feet. You know it's a plane, but you can't necessarily make out what model or color or etc. Such is the same with a dry fly on the top. If the shape and presentation is there, the fish is thinking, "I know it's food, I just hope it's that one mayfly that I like". That is the way I think of it. And not to be conceited but my way of thinking has done well for me on the water.

 

There's just nothin' purtier than a dozen Cree hackled Adams sitting in a pile, though.

 

...Only if it is back lit by the sun or a very bright sky. Most of the time, at least when trout fishing small streams, the light is defused, and, while the underside may be darker, it is still lit well enough for the fish to see color.

 

Color does matter, except when it doesn't....

 

Of course it matters! But it's not the trigger in the fish's head. He'll see the profile of the fly before he sees the color.