I want to try tying a crackleback. The recipe calls for furnace hackle. From Googling that, it appears to involve a light colored hackle with a dark stripe near the stem.
The only hackles I have are brown, dun and grizzly. Is it acceptable to substitute one of these? I’m guessing the grizzly would be the closest match- right?
Thanks!
oldfrat…sounds like you are describing a badger hackle rather than furnace…furnace is usually brown with a very dark inner stripe. I would use the brown if I didnt have furnace…which I don’t. Jason
“There’s always room for one more wrap of hackle”
I would say niether of those would a substitute. Check out this page on the Conranch site:
[url=http://www.conranch.com/capes.html:98e92]http://www.conranch.com/capes.html[/url:98e92]
There is also some links for closer pictures on the page.
Joe
lotsa brown capes have numerous feathers w/ a darker inner stripe which would adequately replace furnace.
mgj
I’d say brown would be the closest substitute and it will make a nice crackleback.
Brown will work just fine.
Now I am taking this from my head but if I recall a Furance hackle is Black center with dark brown outer fibers and black tips. That is how I remember seeing them for many years. If it were me and I could not come up with Furnace I would use very dark broan. Ron
Thanks for the fast responses! I truly appreciate the help I have gotten from the enablers on this board as I sink deeper into fly tying addiction!
[This message has been edited by oldfrat (edited 09 January 2006).]
oldfrat,
I know that Ed Story’s original crackleback uses furnace hackle, but the fish don’t know. I tie most of mine with barred ginger hackle and they work just fine.
Steve
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went”-Will Rogers
frat, RW here
I have a pet rooster that is a furnace… dark rusty or cinammon brown with black center stripe running from the base of the feather and gradually thinning as it reaches the tip. Yes, the marking is similar to a golden or silver badger butr an entirely different color.
P. S. Grizzly is about as far as you can get from furnace.
RonMT is right on the money with his description.
Later, RW
“We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours.” -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-
[This message has been edited by Royal Wulff (edited 09 January 2006).]
You can allways add your own dark stripe down the center of your brown hackle with a black marker; probably won’t matter if you don’t.
all leaders tangle; mine are just better at it than most. Jim
Again, thanks! I just tied up my first 4. It is a surprisingly easy fly to tie, especially now that I have a rotary vise for the hackle palmering.
As I look at the finished product, it is hard to understand how the fish could care much between furnace and brown. I guess the main difference would be a darker segmentation stripe around the body.
I’ll try a few using the black magic marker idea to see if there’s any difference when I fish them.
Last year was a crazy one for our family due to our son’s war injuries. I only resumed my newbie tying in December in order to tie some as presents. It felt great and I’ve been tying a few almost every day since. I had forgotten how relaxing it is to get so engrossed in the tying activity that you can forget about all worries. Sure beats TV!
So, I’m afraid you can look forward to a lot more newbie questions from me this year. The wisdom and helpfulness of this board is fantastic and much appreciated!
Ron
Black center and tips is Coch-Y-Bondhu.
Joe Fox
OK Black center and Dk Brown fibers? I claim Horse shoes. 
Ron
Hi Oldfrat,
I think we have pretty good agreement for once amoung the people offering advice. Plain brown, or dark brown (called coachman brown in the old days) will work just fine. Particularly if you are only going to tie a few flies, don’t be bothered by the substitution. If it’s going to become a “go to” pattern, you can get one of those Whiting 100 packs or a quarter neck or saddle. Just my 2% of a dollar! 8T
You had better learn to be a happy camper. You only get one try at this campground and it’s a real short camping season.
Oldfrat,
I tie lots of crackelbacks, and rarely do they have furnace hackle on them. Sometimes they’re cherese, sometimes flor. yellow, sometimes cream … and they all work well.
Betty
Trouts don’t live in ugly places
Ed Story, invented the crackleback. At one time the crackleback was always a dry fly hook, ordinarily size 10 or 12, furnace hackle. Ed used a pale yellow body; dubbed and now with a turkey biot. The are 2 strands of peacock herl on the top of the fly body.
The crackleback has evolved. Now it is like a woolybugger. You tie it with the hackle color and body of choice.
The dry fly hook and the peocock herl are the only constants that I see among the current users of cracklebacks.
(blue holographic tape is one of my favorite body materials.)
Swing hard, in case they throw the ball where you’re swinging. Duke Snider
I didn’t note who said it, but a furnace hackle that has black at the feather tips as well as along the stem is called a Cock-y bondhu.
The best furnace I’ve seen lately for small hackles are the Metz Microbarb saddles they call brown. I called Metz on this and was told they never could get an all brown. It is a great quality saddle regardless.
I use cracklebacks a lot at Bennet Springs and make them with all kinds of hackle. Grizzly, brown, ginger, cream, and dun with different halo bodies. Some days they want one and other days they want something else completely. Tie plenty in a wide varity and fish them dry or wet with a sink leader and you will be set.
oldfrat,
For what it’s worth. I one time emailed Al Campbell about substituting Caribou Hair for Elk Hair on an Elk Hair Caddis. His response was, and I paraphrase, “This is exactly what I like to hear. When folks substitute what they have for what they need. Just tie it up with what you have, and give it a try. If it works, you have a winner. If it doesn’t work, try something else.” Try what you have oldfrat, and if it works, call it what you like. I tied up some EHC flies once, and used Ice Dub instead of traditional dubbing. I tried them on a North Idaho river and they worked so well, I tied more. I just call them “Sparkle Caddis.” I tie them all the time and give them away to folks around home. There is nothing wrong with experimentation. That’s what I call fly fishing.
Lotech Joe