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Thread: Whiting Product question

  1. #1

    Default Whiting Product question

    I have been trying to sample all the main name brand hackle suppliers ( on my college budget) And recently baught a Whiting herbert minor neck, I found the barbs to not be very stiff at all compared to my Collins hackle and sold it. But I constantly hear people back whiting and how great there hackle is, Is there regular line of hackle any stiffer than the Herbert Minor?

    Thanks for any help
    Doug

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Monument, Colorado, USA
    Posts
    129

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    Doug,

    Whiting has "basically" two different types of birds...There are several others but for the most part there are the Hebert Miner and the American stock (which came from Hoffman). The Hebert Miner birds are OK (middle of the road in my opinion) but the quality in the American stock or the actual "Whiting" brand is far superior. If your tying dry flies I would bypass the Hebert Miner birds and Opt for the other. Denny at Conranch also has nice quality hackle (reasonable price too!)

    Hope this helps,


    ------------------
    John G.
    Albuquerque, NM

  3. #3

    Default

    Just check out the link you provided.

    Not knocking the guy but his prices seem right in-line with Metz and Whiting.

  4. Default

    whiting 100's

  5. #5
    Guest

    Default

    J Castwell,

    Why was my reply removed? Cant you handle facts?

  6. #6

    Default

    Im sorry this post has seemed to cause a disturbance, But if you read my question I wasn't looking for a comparision between whiting and anyone else I just wanted to hear a response from fly tiers who have tried the two types of hackle mentioned and get thier opinions.

    And the reason I have a limited budget is because Im trying to atleast sample all the major brands of hackle to form my own opinions. And yes I will be trying COnranch in the future.

    Doug

  7. #7
    Guest

    Default

    The Hebert Miner line of hackle is but one "breed" of bird that Whiting offers. The main line being just plain "Whiting". The Hebert line is characterised by lower fiber density(not as many barbs per inch), true natural colors, and somewhat larger sized feathers and barb lengths, as well as softer barbs. The Whiting line, however, is what you have probably been hearing about. Whiting hackles have an amazingly dense fiber per inch ratio,stiff barbs, long, thin feathers and a variety of sizes on a neck. The only downsides I've seen is that they need to dye many of the colors, rather than getting them from the bird naturally, although, I actually prefer their dyed dun necks to the natural tones, as they are much more consitent.
    The (Whiting) "American" line of birds are bred for larger, webbier feather more suitable for bass and saltwater flies, and are really pretty useless for dry flies.
    I'm sure Conranch offers some nice stuff too, but I don't like to buy feather sight unseen...
    Hope this helps,
    Charlie

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Delaware, ohio, USA
    Posts
    285

    Default

    I can't talk about Conranch. I can talk about Whiting 100 packs, necks, and saddles. I love the Whiting ( not Hebert Minor Hoffman yada yada yada ) for small dry flies (16 to 24). I don't like the color of the dun, but the fish don't seem to care. The 100s are great, VERY easy to tie with, no twisting, small stems, dense hackle. As Charlie will attest, I've bought a lot, and will buy more. For the tying I do, it's the ultimate. For 16 and larger, other brands seem to work just fine. Metz had quite a problem with twisting, but things have been better of late I think. I know Denny has some very interesting colorations, Cree, etc. It depends on what you're tying.
    Eric

  9. #9

    Default

    That is actually one thing I have been worrying about with buying whiting, the dense barb count, Im tying classic catskill dries which I prefer a little sparse I dont want my flies to look to thick and densly hackled, I have tried whiting 100's and didn't like the way my flies looked.

    Should I stick with a different brand, will whiting hackle come out looking like to much?

    Thanks for any help
    Doug

  10. #10

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    This article discusses the history of hackle, including Catskill breeds and should help you decide which brands to investigate.
    [url=http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/sshackle/:be84a]http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/sshackle/[/url:be84a]

    "...The most important genetic work of the early period of hackle raising in the United States came from Catskill fly tier Harry Darbee, who produced the best available stock of the day...Darbee was well known for his generosity and sent eggs to enthusiasts around the country. One recipient, Minnesota lawyer Andy Miner, received stock from both Chip Stauffer...and Darbee..."

    "...In 1997, Whiting Farms purchased Ted Hebert's stock, a breed Dr. Whiting feels has more development potential than Hoffman and will provide the greatest genetic advancements in the coming years. Whiting is keeping this bloodline "pure" and selling it as Hebert-Miner Dry Fly Hackle. While Whiting Dry Fly Hackle is derived from the Hoffman bloodline, this product connects Whiting with the Catskill bloodlines of Darbee and Miner."

    "...Collins feels that his hearty strain of mountain-bred bird is not only truer to the backyard breeders of the Catskill era,..."

    [This message has been edited by classicflytyer (edited 05 May 2005).]

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