Hackles

[raven4ns]

I honestly can't ever remember finding a deal on anything especially fishing. Because of my trip next year, the 2 new rods as well as other things, I'm trying to keep a handle on my costs. As much as I would like to have a new cane rod, it's not likely to happen next year( so many new toys, so little money)....lol.

[William Anderson]

Tim, it's hard to imagine not having a selection of skins to thumb through when designing a pattern. There's something great about the trailer and webbiness of some feathers and I seen to love them all. For spiders I especially like partridge and grouse but for flymphs the hen hackles give you more length to slightly palmer the hackle through the thorax. What you're really looking for is a density from the webbiness in only a couple turns and lots of mobility. Color and mottling are factors. Good luck and enjoy your search.

Second fiddle, my ass.

[raven4ns]

Lol

Second fiddle, my ass. [/quote]

[Mataura mayfly]

I honestly can't ever remember finding a deal on anything especially fishing. Because of my trip next year, the 2 new rods as well as other things, I'm trying to keep a handle on my costs. As much as I would like to have a new cane rod, it's not likely to happen next year( so many new toys, so little money)....lol.

Christmas is coming, make a list for "Santa" made up of capes, feathers and skins.
Better to get stuff you want and will use than another neck tie or pair of socks.

Second fiddle? Remember a soft hackle makes a pretty damn good semi-dry, but a good dry fly seldom makes a good soft hackle.

[fflutterffly]

has anyone used sky rats? That's pigeons to most of you.

[hankaye]

fflutterffly, Howdy;

has anyone used sky rats? That's pigeons to most of you.

Strange you should ask ... http://flymphforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5942

hank

[gingerdun]

Tim,
As I am among the least experienced fishermen on the forum, nothing I say should be taken very seriously. However, I do have a little partridge v hen experiment to report. Some of my friends have already heard/seen this, so I apologize for the repetition.

This June on the Madison for two weeks I sometimes fished several plain flymph patterns that had identical bodies, differing only in that one had partridge hackle and the other hen. The partridge consistently caught fish, while the hens were less reliable.



These were the flies that worked best for me. And, as you can see, I was not fussy about matching hackle size to hook size. The fish didn't seem to care. Not only that, I used more wraps that I'm supposed to. But the trout teeth thinned them out fast enough.

[raven4ns]

Thank you, Lance, that is interesting. I wouldn't have thought it would have made a difference but perhaps it's the mottling of the partridge. Thank you for sharing that with me, I appreciate it.

[raven4ns]

Hello,
In Nova Scotia we have Hungarian partridge and Spruce partridge as far as I know. It has been eons since I last hunted and that was deer and ducks. Do many of you use Grouse feathers to tie SH flies?
Where do most of you buy game bird pelts, I was thinking about the full hide? Thank you.

[Eric Peper]

Ruffed grouse shoulder coverts are wonderful feathers, and the color/marking can vary substantially from bird to bird. Actually, I've yet to find a game bird of any species that doesn't provide some good softhackle materials. Blue Ribbon Flies is one source of gamebird pelts that I use regularly. I believe Great Feathers handles a food variety as well.

Eric