Don't throw them away

[Ray Kunz]

I was recently going through some old stuff Including several unused 50 year old #2 Metz rooster capes.
(Yes, I'm that old. I started fishing and tying when I got out of the army in 1947.)
These necks were still soft and pliable and showed no evidence of any genetic engineering. The feathers had very nice, soft barbs from which I tied some soft hackle flies. Wow, they seemed better than those I have tied lately with recent hen hackles.
Metz hens today are nice and soft, make better shaped wings for Adams dries, I think, but are too short for Palmer winding long shank hooks. Whiting's on the other, hand are longer but are stiffer and just too skinny for my liking.
These really old guys are just right for my soft hackle needs. Just my opinion of course.

[fritz]

I have Metz necks #1 grade from the early 80's. Still going strong as far as I can tell. Still pliable

[ScottP]

At the very least the older necks tend to have some very good spade hackles for tailing, something you don't see much on more recent capes.

Regards,
Scott

[melk]

WAIT!!! There is use for us old birds afterall!!
Mike

[gqualls]

That is amazing; thanks for sharing.

[okflyfisher]

I have a fair assortment of old rooster capes from when i first started tying in the sixties. They were not very good for dry flies , but I just might have to dig them out and try them for soft hackles. Thanks for bringing it up

[Allan]

True story. Some of you in the northeast know of Charlie Collins' hackle. Well, I live near Charlie and met him about 1980. He was relatively new (I think about 5 years) to breeding the genetic hackles. He started out with eggs given to him by Harry Darbee. That's an important part of this story. Now, according to Charlie, as he bred his roosters, the necks improved so much each year that he couldn't sell the ones that were 2 years old because of the visible difference to the current year crop. In the next several years I visited Charlie and bought a good number, for me anyway, of necks. Then one day, probably in the mid 1990s, I got a call from Charlie to stop by and pick up a few boxes of 'stuff' that he would leave out for me. Well, I do and there are 3 boxes of rooster necks, saddles, complete skins, hen necks and skins, packages of spade hackle and a box of the original Fly Tyer magazines up through '85. After I called to thank him, he said he had no space for the stuff, I thought about what to do with all of this. Well, I brought about 90% of this stuff to a 'Material Swap' of the Catskill Fly Tyer's Guild and just gave it away. I have a few of the necks and let me tell you, they are almost identical to the Darbee necks. The feathers are great for flies size 8 though 14 and the tailing feathers along the edges are long and stiff. Colors - shiny, bright, and natural colors including dun. I am as guilty of accumulating stuff as almost all fly tyers are but this was one collection I failed to save. Sometimes when I think about it, like now, I kick myself. Ouch!

Allan

[hap]

And for all you thinking that they are flexible still by accident, not so much!

Take your antique patches and wash them in a sinkful of warm soapy water with a capful of Chlorox. Rinse well and work a little fabric softener into them before rinsing well and drying. They will soak up enough water to become very workable and you will have stopped any impending bug attacks at the same time... It will also let/force you to look at what you have...

I once found a Hoffman #1 grizzly saddle in my collection completely eaten up by moths, right in the middle of my stuff, in a zip-lock. Just a mass of feathers perfectly arranged with nothing but friction holding them together.... A few critters in various life stages there as witness to the damage they had done.

[AlanB]

Hair conditioner will work just as well as fabric softener.

Cheers,
A.

[hap]

Hair conditioner will work just as well as fabric softener.

Cheers,
A.

If you have as much hair as I, it is far easier to find fabric softener around home...
art