Gudebrod Herl

Was wondering if anyone has used Gudebrod Herl and how it stacked up to the real deal? Lately I've noticed peacock herl at some of the fly shops I frequent have been so so.

For those interested in Gudebrod Herl, I wrote them asking if they could direct me to a store selling their Herl product. Here is what they responded with.

HI Marty,
I would suggest ordering on line from http://www.versitex.com go under brands then gudebrod the components then
fly tying thread then herl. thanks Sue

I am going to give this product a try as I have noticed lately that the peacock herl being sold at some of my local flyshops have been of poorer quality as of late.

Tyrone Fly - Versitex is located not too far away from where I live. They are a first class outfit! They do a lot of custom saltwater rods, where their name is more widely recognized than their fly fishing gear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Heritage Angler

Tyrone Fly - Versitex is located not too far away from where I live. They are a first class outfit! They do a lot of custom saltwater rods, where their name is more widely recognized than their fly fishing gear.

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Heritage:

You must be lucky in your dealings with Versitex. I had a NIGHTMARE dealing with them on a Gudebrod thread order that took over 3 months to fill with three mistakes which required me to ship product back. In addition they charged me a ridiculous amount to ship product, (spools of thread) and I live 45 minutes from them.

I don't usually bash companies but before I would consider ordering from them I'd look elsewhere long and hard.

Tryone Fly: Sometime back I also went on a search looking for an artificial substitute to real peacock herl. The search led to a product made by a company called "Kreinik". They make a metallic braid product that looks like the one offered by Gudebrod. Here is a link to that product - when you bring up the link go to color code 85: http://www.kreinik.com/kshop/product.ph ... 20&page=1.

I have an idea that the Gudebrod product might be the Keinik product as I doubt Gudebrod makes their own and also that Orvis at one time sold the product under their name.

I found the product to be kinda disappointing if you are trying to achieve a fly that looked like it was tied with the real stuff. It has too much of a metallic look to suit me, but the fish, mainly warmwater, did not seem to mind.

If you want a sample of the Kreinik product send me you address by PM and I will get it in the mail.

Tim Anderson

Bamboozle - Maybe I WAS lucky, but I dealt with them indirectly, sort of. All of the stuff I've bought from them has been by going through the local fly shop. A couple years ago, I bought a rod from them that had a ferrule problem that developed after a week or so of use. The shop owner called Versitex and put me on the phone with them. I was speaking to the owner of Versitex who said he was surprised that the rod had passed quality control with a bad ferrule. He apologized profusely and said he would send me a new rod A.S.A.P. - I had the new rod in less than a week. The new rod was the top of the line model and was personalized, while the "old one" was the bottom of their line, and off the shelf. No charge. They fixed the "old one" and sent it back to me as well two weeks later. Also no charge.

He must like Catty fisherman better!

Glad it worked out for you!

Panman,

You have a PM.

Thanks

Marty