Hi Uncle Barry,

There are a few of Pritt's patterns that suggest lighter hackles, or some "stained in onions", which produces a golden yellow/orange colour (on wool at least). Some of the partridge hackles are the white with black flecks feathers, which appear generally quite light rather than dark. That one is often used in a partridge and yellow, while partridge and orange goes for the more brown mottled feather. I think the watchet's often use a "bloa", or blue/grey feather. I've tied a few of those (yellow thread, very lightly dubbed with grey dubbing, and blue/grey pidgeon feather) and they are quite light in the hackle.

The patterns that call for the feathers from the underside of a wookcock's wing are also quite light, with very pale markings. Hen pheasant feathers, called for in a few patterns, also produce a much lighter looking hackle.

On the whole, however, the patterns that are currently most popular do tend to be the darker hackled ones, like partridge and orange, or snipe and purple. My favorite, the water cricket, is a dark hackled one using a starling feather. One possibility is that as people start to re-discover spiders they re-discover Stewart's recommendation of the Baille's Black Spider, and they go with the few they have heard of, which are probably the Partridge & Orange and Snipe & Purple.

- Jeff