Surprise.

[daringduffer]

I'm 58 but people can still surprise me. I have just tied a beautiful fly. I've heard so much about Collins hen hackle and decided to try it out. I searched the net for some source taking PayPal since I am sceptic to credit card safety. I found a seller in a big country far west from here and told him what I wanted; dark dun and greenwell. He asked me to send some feather samples. I had none. He said he would order new capes from Charlie Collins but in the meantime he could send me a couple for free - and he did!!

I now have a barred bronze dun which is wonderful and a barred ginger that is not bad either. And the saddles to both. No cost - no strings attatched!

(The fly is a purple and barred bronze dun on Kamasan B525 sz 14).

dd

[GlassJet]

You got a camera, dd?

andrew

[Ruard]

You made me very curious!!dd.

greeting

[daringduffer]

You got a camera, dd?

andrew

No, Andrew, I have not. I have a picture of myself when I was four and was surrounded by poultry. It is a small paper copy but it looks like I enjoyed it.

Could that be of any help?

dd

[daringduffer]

You made me very curious!!dd.

greeting

Beware Ruard - curiosity killed the cat!

dd

[daringduffer]

If you were curious of the hackle I can say that it was a bit like this:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Collins-Hackle-Fa ... 335dccb41a and this:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Collins-Hackle-Fa ... 335dcca95c.
Not quite similar but almost. The barbs are neither soft nor stiff but more stiff than soft. Not as stiff as Whiting but I suppose they will perform even downstream. They are shiny on both sides.

Was this to your liking?

dd

[Ruard]

Thank you dd.

[William Anderson]

Congrats, dd. Collins is a really good dude. I've picked up several hens and rooster capes from him in the past and the saddle is always a bonus. plus...if you cover his booth for him at a show while he runs to the men's room, there are usually some freebies for that too. He does a really nice job.

w

[daringduffer]

William,

You are one of the persons whose words about Charlie Collins made me curious. You did not let me down, neither did this Dave McNeese. One thing is strange though - you are supposed to have thick black/grayish hair and spectacles. Did you send the wrong photo by any chance?

dd

[William Anderson]

That's funny. Not many of the faces looked quite the way I had pictured them either. Kudos to Alan for that thread. I haven't had hair since I was 21. I'm not sure when I lost it, but I pre-emptively started wearing it buzzed. Specs too, huh? That's pretty funny.

w