Tying dries

[Jonny{UTAH}]

Im new to tying and would like to start tying some dries. I need some advice on some hackle. What brand, color and size range would you suggest to get without draining my wallet dry.

[Crosby]

Whiting 100's until you know what you want- can't remember the price.
I have purchased them from anywhere between $9.00 and $14.00.
SW has them- so does many others-

[Junge]

Decide on a couple of patterns you want to tie and then pick up some Whiting 100's in the color and size you need. They run about $11-$14 a pack depending on the size.

[JayMorr]

Hey Johnny I moved the thread to the Flytying Forum.

I also echo what Junge has mentioned. Buying your hackles in packs or a buying half a cape will get you started without putting you out to much money.

However BEWARE.... you are about to start tying and become like many of us who then put a lot of money into tying. ;)


JayMorr

[Norm]

Who the hell let JayMorr become a Moderator? Good God whats next Junge teaching AA classes. Pavlik running a fly tying sweatshop in China. Walks carrying a BOOM box filled with metallica streamside so he can bang his head while fishing.

Ab"Norm"al

[hacklesup]

So now i know where that wild post i started went. JayMorr didn't like me on that OTHER site either. I'm with Norm on this one.

[Utah DaveII]

Go with 1/4 saddle instead of the 100 packs because for about 8 to 10 extra bucks you can tie 3 times as many flies, and probably get two hackle sizes instead of just one. I'd start out with Brown and Grizzly.

Whiting has so many products available at so many different price levels that I would not waste my time with anything else.

One other thing, Craig Mathews has a few patterns x-caddis, iris caddis, sparkle dun that use hair instead of hackle. Very good patterns

[Curtis Fry]

NORM! You crack me up dude.

Now regarding hackle. If I were to go back in time, I'd not buy as much hackle as I did years ago. There are a lot of people nowadays, (me included) that don't use much hackle. There are other materials that can be used for floatation and they're cheaper and easier to tie with. For example: CDC, Coastal Deer hair, Bunny (cheech), Turkey flats, mallard quill, etc all work well to float small dry flies. See the picture below for an excellent "hackel-less" fly -- the No-hackle.

However, I do use hackle from time to time and it's a staple in most fly tyers stash. You can't very well tie the "traditional" adams without some hackle.

With that said, go see Dennis at the fly desk and he can hook you up with the most AWESOME midgle saddles you'll ever see. Even though I don't tie a lot with hackle, these were too cool to pass up.

[cheech]

I love hackle, I just don't like paying for it (see tight-wad, manual page 45). Like Curtis said, there are tons of alternatives now. I personally prefer Snowshoe foot hair. I can tie tiny midges, to huge drakes with bunny. I love to fish humpies, royal wulffs, and para adams, but I haven't found a good substitute for hackle on them. Jaymorr hit it on the head with Whiting. Don't even mess with anything else, and Dennis is the man when it comes to getting a sweet saddle.

L,M,N,O,P's (take that Grizz)

[chris]

I love hackle, I just don't like paying for it (see tight-wad, manual page 45). Like Curtis said, there are tons of alternatives now. I personally prefer Snowshoe foot hair. I can tie tiny midges, to huge drakes with bunny. I love to fish humpies, royal wulffs, and para adams, but I haven't found a good substitute for hackle on them. Jaymorr hit it on the head with Whiting. Don't even mess with anything else, and Dennis is the man when it comes to getting a sweet saddle.

L,M,N,O,P's (take that Grizz)

I'm printing this to show G force in the morning, guess what we are doing????

[chris]

I'm printing this to show G force in the morning, guess what we are doing????


What they said, what's a hackle?

[cheech]

I'm printing this to show G force in the morning, guess what we are doing????

I have no idea what you two devils are doing;) Maybe trying to convert the world to grizzbonics?

[JayMorr]

So now i know where that wild post i started went. JayMorr didn't like me on that OTHER site either. I'm with Norm on this one.


Haha it wasnt me ;) And what other site are you talking about? Anyways I thought it would be good to move the thread over here so everyone that ties could give this guy a hand.


_________________________~~~~splash~~~~

JayMorr

[Norm]

You know I messin with ya, Lets hit the river this weekend. I'm ready, hav'nt been out in a while.

Norm

[Fred]

Two good colors are brown and grizzly for your first two purchases. It's not just for dries. But, you also need hackle for some of the old standby's like the Prince Nymph and the Zug bug. I like Utah Dave's suggestion. But, if you're on a tight budget, Crosby has a good suggestion too.

[Norm]

I have been going thru the same delema, I just dropped $80.00 on feather's, it was painfull but necessary. Whiting 100s are good ideas but at $12-$15 total you can get a half saddel from places for $20.00 and you get a lot more feathers with a fair range of sizes. The other day I bought 1/2 saddle med/dark dun and 1/2 brown. The shop owner cut the saddles in half for me I ended up with a saddle that had a good amount in the 14-16 range a bit less in the 18-20 range and even some in the 20+ range. For small midges I bought a grizzly neck that gives me a wide variety. I almost went with the whitting 100's but I just figuered I'd bit the bullet and go for more. This week I am going for a dark Olive/Grizz and Cream.

Norm