I need a little help. I am looking for claret Hen Saddle and or Schlappen. I have looked all over and can not find this color that I was able to buy a few years ago. Does any one know where I could get help in obtaining this material? Or does anyone know who would dye some up for me. Ihave never dyed material before and am not sure how and most important where to obtain Claret dye. Now try and imagine a Montreal wet fly without Claret schlappen or Hen Saddle tyed in the beard\False Hackle.
Thanks
Andy Brasko
I didn’t see any capes, but he might be able to get some?
He also has Uni thread, light blue!
Jeff
P.S. Oh yah, there were 3 shades of claret, one was quite light, almost pinkish, one which I would call “claret” (a red with purplish tinge), and a 3rd, dark one, which was very purple coloured. There was also claret rabbit strips, and seal’s fur (but I think that’s not allowed in the US). I’m not associated with the store. It’s just where I’ve been picking up my own stuff since getting here and I’ve been pleased with everything I’ve picked up so far.
I placed an order in to with John McClain. However another web site has me getting into dying my own Hen saddles and quills. Once I learn this and write down the fomulas for the exact colors I want will never present me an issue moving forward to find the colors I need. After some help and advise given to me last night I know in a very short time I can dye my own hen saddles in the colors I want them in. Also this brings duck quills into play where I can get that light lavander color I need for the Jenny Lind Wet fly. I'll let you know how it turns out and will provide pics on my completed saddles. Also think about the last time that you seen silver doctor blue to it's identical color. Well this is time to work a bit to get the colors that I really want.
Andy Brasko
I have been following this Claret flavoured string with great interest. It is a favoured colour, especially in Ireland and Scotland. Here is an old Scottish pattern, which sometimes does not use the H.E. on;y the Claret dubbing.
I think the shade of H.E. I used was too light for the purists, but I don’t care. It has been a very successful fly for me.
Softhackler has been getting a pretty good share of my fly tying budget lately. Excellent prices on some really, really good stuff. I have a list of hen hackle on the way.
Talked to a great deal of friends and decided it was time to take the next step and dye my own. I am really getting into this and feel my wet flies and salmon flies will be all that much better. When was the last time that you seen a set of a very light lavendar in duck or goose quills available to tye the Jenny Lind wet fly, or truly see the real color of silver doctor blue and so on. I feel experimentaiton and hard work will pay off for me in the long run. So I can just buy white capes saddle and quills and tails and dye them for the hard to find colors I need. I really think this is a cool thing.
Good luck with the dying. I think you’re exactly right though. I’ve never seen quills in lavendar for a Jenny Lind. I’ve tied one or two, but had to use blue, which just doesn’t look right at all. Would love to see your results. If you come up with dye formulas for hard to find colours, that would make a great article (so it would be permant resource).
Two books that helped me greatly with the dying thing are Eric Leiser’s book, “Fly Tying Materials” and AK Best’s book, “Dyeing and Bleaching Natural Fly-Tying Materials”.
It’s really easy and fun too and doing really small batches of materials is not a problem either. Just do yourself a favor and get some old pots and maybe a hotplate if you don’t want to aggravate your significant other.
I have been dyeing marabou almost every weekend. Fly dye and Veniard both make Claret I think. Do a presoak of materials overnight before dyeing. I use warm to hot water, Dawn liquid dish soap, and liquid fabric softener, the one free of dyes and perfumes.
Throw the materials in there and stir it up.
Next morning, rinse and wash your materials in liquid Dawn and your ready to dye.
