Grading of Jungle Cock
Hi,
I have been looking at getting some Jungle Cock. Can someone explain the grading scheme for these? I have seen Grade 1,2,3, etc. as well as Grade A, AA, AAA.
Are they the same, just different parts of the world? or are the letter scheme better quality than the number scheme (AA is better than A which is better than 1)?
Thanks,
Dwight
I'd give Denny at Conranch a call:
[url=http://www.conranch.com:a8bf8]http://www.conranch.com[/url:a8bf8]
I don't think he has any available, at least yet, but he will be able to give you expert advise.
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Joe
Jungle Cock are graded by how the nails look and there quantity and quality and color. If you have less full feathers (Nails) and most are split then it will be a grade 3 or A. If you have more nails and less are split and you have some of smaller sizes then you will have a grade 2 or AA. If the cape is of the best quality it will have no split nails and will be very full of feathers or nails and they all will be of good color. Thus grade 1 or AAA.
I am lucky as I bought about 20 of them many years ago from Herters before they were run out of business for importing them LOL. Seems the govenment didn't like them importing them anymore and they did it anyway. All of the capes you get now are very expensice compared to the ones I bought. I think I paid about $4.50 each for them and they were all grade 1's I still have several left and would not part with any of them. Cost to much to replace them LOL. I will still use them on flies that call for them if the client is willing to pay a little extra to have them on the fly. Lot's of patterns that call for them just do not look as good or work as well, in my opinion, without them. Ron
If you are going to by one I would suggest you go with at least a grade 2 or AA and if it were me I would just get the grade 1 or AAA and be done with it. Ron
Just compare the prices for each grade and that'll tell you which ones are better.
Try [url=http://www.fishermensfeathers.com/usa/junglecock.htm:7b931]www.fishermensfeathers.com/usa/junglecock.htm[/url:7b931]
They have good stuff. I got a Grade A and a presentation grade neck last year. They are pretty nice capes, better than anything I've seen in local shops. Not sure if I'll use them for what I paid for them tho, but they make nice display pieces.
Jeff
Dwight, I agree with Ron. You need JC nails for certain flies. If you have split nails, they can be repaired.(sounds like a cosmetic commercial).Place a tiny drop of head cement on the tips of your thumb and forefinger and wipe the feather through the film. 2 or 3 times should get it.
Those Herters capes were something else. You could cover 2 of your new necks with 1 of the Herters'. At less than $5 it makes me want to cry. But then a St. Albans bamboo rod cost $27 with extra tip and aluminum tube. It did flex into the grip, however.
gerry l
Hi Dwight,
It also depends on what your going to do with the JC eyes. If your buying a cape just for fishing only, don't even bother with the top couple grades. Like others mentioned above, splits can easily be repaired. There's online instructions to do this too. A repaired eye is not going to deter a fish from eating your streamer. If your ordering from Fishermens Feathers or some other place where your not actually handleing it to see what it looks like, make sure you tell them what color you want. Some capes have deeper orange coloration and some are more of a cream color. I like the more orange ones personally since they make the "eye" part stand out a little better. It may not make a bit of difference to fish though.
Regards,
Mark
Mark I am sorry to have to disagree with you on this subject. There are more flies tied with Jungle cock than just streamers. I would tell anyone buying a cape and are going to have just the one to get one that is usable for all types of flies. Which means that you will need the very small nails for small dry flies. These nail's are not on many grade 2 to 3 capes.
On some Salmon fly patterns the nails can be very small is size. Same with Steelhead flies. I just think it is best to get a cape that will handle different types and sizes of flies. And it dosen't cost that much more to go from a grade 2 to a grade 1.
I do agree with you on the color though. The bright orange with the light center are the best in color.Ron
[This message has been edited by RonMT (edited 07 January 2006).]
Hi Ron,
The lower grade capes still have tons of very small eyes on them. I won't disagree about other patterns calling for JC eyes either. I just use them for streamers where I live.
I attended the 2001 Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset, NJ. At that show, Fishermens Feathers had a booth set up with a table and a half just for jungle cock capes. They had around thirty necks of EACH grade at any one time to look through. Their Super Select was 75.00, grade A was 60 or 65, grade B was 50, and grade C was 35. The largest difference was the split nail condition between the grades. There really wasn't any huge difference in size variation of the nails on the capes comparing one grade to the next. I ended up buying a couple super select capes and then wished I had bought a couple of C grades too when I started using them for streamers. I bought a C grade cape at eBay last year, and it too, has tons of small, medium, and quite a few good size nails on it. The nails have lots of splits and need fixing, but I don't wince as much when I lose a streamer on rocks or something else.
Regards,
Mark
I agree with you too Ron. The difference in sizes and quality of the two capes I have makes up for the price difference in my opinion. The top quality cape is probably 1/3 bigger with many more eyes and other usable feathers. I haven't really looked at the sizes of the eyes but I'm sure they both could tie all size ranges. When I get to the point of using them I'll post some pics I guess.
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