FLYMPH FORUM

DEAREST FRIENDS,
I RECENTLY WENT SEARCHING FOR A HEN NECK IN THE HARD TO FIND COLOR OF "TAN". NO, CREAM IS TOO LIGHT. GINGER WOULD DO BUT IT'S EQUALLY HARD TO FIND. I DON'T HAVE THE BENEFIT OF DECENT FLYSHOP IN MY AREA BUT I DID COMB ALL THE SHOPS THAT EITHER POST A CATALOG OR HAVE A WEB-SITE. IT SEEMS THAT THEY HAVE VANISHED FROM THE BREEDERS LINES. THE REASON FOR ALL THE FUSS IS....SEVERAL YEARS AGO I STARTED TYING A FLYMPH PATTERN WITH TAN BODY AND THREAD AND YEP, YOU GUESSED IT, TAN COLORED HACKLE. I HAD PURCHASED A REALLY GREAT METZ #2 EARLY ON AND USED IT UNTIL ALL THE SIZE 12'S AND 14'S WERE PLUCKED CLEAN. OTHER COLOR COMBO'S WORK JUST GREAT BUT I HAVE A REAL FAVORITE WITH THIS ALL TAN BEAUTY.
MY QUESTION IS THIS! CAN ANYONE HELP ME FIND A VENDOR THAT STOCKS THIS NOW RARE NECK? A NAME & ADDRESS OR A WEB-SITE WOULD BE APPRECIATED. I THANK YOU AND MY LOCAL FISHES THANK YOU TOO!
YOURS FROM THE DEN......
DOUGDEN

Check out greatfeathers web site they have pic's of Collins hackles that are in stock. You should also call Mike k. and ask if any new ones have come in because they always have new stock coming in. http://greatfeathers.com

I would also highly recommend Great Feathers. They are one of the only ways you can get Charlie Collins Hackles- by far my favorite hen and rooster hackles. They are priced comparably to any other product you can get. The only drawback is that each one is unique- so when you get one you like, don't share! You'll be blown away by the variety.

Purchase a white neck and dye it tan. You will be able to control exactly what color you want.

Mark

You can always get a Hebert Light Tan Dun Hen cape . About as close to the color tan as you can get . Or of course you can always dye a cape tan as per Mark's suggestion.
Jim

Jim Slattery wrote:You can always get a Hebert Light Tan Dun Hen cape . About as close to the color tan as you can get . Or of course you can always dye a cape tan as per Mark's suggestion.
Jim

I was going to suggest the same thing. This is one of my favorite colors in hen hackle. It's fantastic for caddis colors.

WOW!!
THANK YOU FOLKS FOR THE MANY USEFUL RESPONSES. I AM OVERWHELMED AND PLEASED WITH ALL OF YOUR SUGGESTIONS! PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING.
I DYED MALLARD FLANK FEATHERS YEARS AGO TO A RICH YELLOW (ALMOST GOLDEN) COLOR AND THEY WORK OUT GREAT ESPECIALLY ON LIGHT CAHILL WINGS AND ON OTHER PATTERNS TOO! I MIGHT JUST TRY DOING A WHOLE HEN NECK (WHITE OR CREAM?) SOON.
ANY SUGGESTIONS ON THE BEST DYE AND BEST COLOR?
I ALSO CHECKED OUT GREATFEATHERS.COM. WHAT A WEB-SITE. SOOO MANY CAPES AND NECKS AND SADDLES AND COLORS TO CHOOSE FROM. I WILL BE KNOCKING ON THEIR DOOR SOON TOO!
THANKS AGAIN FOR THE MANY POSTINGS. AGAIN, PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING! I KNOW THAT I AM DEALING WITH THE BEST!
HEADING TOWARD THE DEN,
DOUGSDEN....

Doug,
RIT clothes dye works well for this purpose. I think they have a Tan colored dye, but a dark brown would work as well used to tint the feathers rather than dye fully. You do not need to use a whole package but make a smaller batch, and do it on the stove top. Do not have the pot boiling, however. Bring it to a boil, then turn off the heat and let sit a minute. Dye a few feathers from the neck first to check and make sure the color is correct. You can adjust the color by adding water or a little more dye. Keep track of the time you leave them in the bath and wash them in increasingly cooler water, till the rinse water is clean. Dry them, too to make sure they are what you want both wet and dry.

Once you establish these variables, bring the pot back to a boil, turn off and let it sit a minute. Wet the neck thoroughly to get even dying. Put the neck in the bath, moving it around to get even dying. Remove after the correct time, and rinse. Dry well with some paper towels, lay flat on some clean dry paper towels and let dry.

USE AN OLD PAN, NOT SOMETHING YOUR WIFE USES FOR COOKING.

Mark

Lol, my wife bought me my own a blender a while ago... got tired of eating dubbing

Definitely go to the thrift shop and buy some old pans for dying.

Another suggestion, particularly if you're dying loose feathers:

If you're in the testing stage and want to see what the dry colour will look like (or you are anxious to twist up a fly), you can dry the feathers using the low heat setting of a hair drier after you've pressed them with the paper towel. For loose feathers take a wire meshed kitchen sieve, drop the feathers in and hit them with the blow drier. It helps to move the blow drier nozzle from side to side as you dry them--just make sure you keep the nozzle downwards so you don't end up with a room full of feathers lol). For capes just bent the cape so that you can dry the base of the feathers.

This works very well and very quickly. The feathers come out with their natural shape and arc.

Aaron

PS. If you want really bright colours try dying with unsweetened kool-aid packages.