I bought my first neck the other day. It is a high quality hen neck that I bought for tying soft hackles…Specifically a fly called the soft-hackled woolly worm. The fly calls for palmering (2) hackles. The first be 1 ro 1.5 times the hook gape and the second being slighly larger. I understand how I can measure the hackle by bending it around the hook. However, what seemed to be the most time consuming was finding the correct sized hackle on the neck. It is a grizzly color and I found it hard choosing the right size on the neck. Any tips?
Coltranem
You could use a hackle gauge that attaches to the stem of your vise like this one:
http://www.whitingfarms.com/prod_gauge.html
for about $20 or less expensive similar ones from Griffin and others. It’s good to get one that has both light and dark markings so you can see different hackle shades.
With soft hackles, you may or may not want to use the ?true size? (since it?s designed for hackling ?traditional? dry flies) depending on the look you?re going for. Try measuring the ?true size? of a feather against the gauge and compare on the hook and see how it looks. If you want longer hackles use a size bigger on the gauge, shorter use a size smaller. For example, when I tie EHC I use a size smaller, parachutes a size larger than indicated on a gauge. In your example if you were tying a size 12 you’d probably look for a feather one size smaller, at 14 for the first hackle and a size 12 for the second.
Or you could make your own by drawing lines on the back of a business card at the proper length from an edge and holding it up to the stem.
After tying a bunch you?ll be able to eyeball it pretty well. And for each neck, once you find the right size, the feathers on the same area of the neck will tend to run the same size.
Hope this helps.
peregrines
The Griffin hackle gauge as Peregrines mentioned, Is only about 6 bucks. And it has a hook gauge on it as well as the hackle gauge.
I have it and like it.
Never use the gage. Took it off the stem cuz it got in the way. I just “eyeball” the feather and wind away. The fish don’t care, only the purist cares. if I gaged every feather to every hook for every fly I tied, I’d go back to buying them from the fly shop. If the hackle is too short, too bad. If it’s too long, trim it…that’s what scissors are for. Carry scissors in your fly vest so you can modify your flies while fishing as well.
Joe
P.S. I tend to get a little on the radical side…sometimes. I’m sure I ruffled a feather or too with my analysis. :shock: This is supposed to be fun, so don’t take it too seriously.
Thanks for the tips…I do have a hackle gage. I guess my questions was more in the way finding the region of the cape with the correct feathers…With grizzly they all seem to blend together.
To help speed up the process of sizing hackle, by eye ball, hook gape or gauge you might want to do the sizing before tying. Some guys that tie a lot pick out all the feathers on a dry fly cape or saddle and put them in envelops by size and color. I don?t do that, but I will pick out what I think I?m going to use before each fly pattern- so if I was going to tie 12 of your pattern, I?d make 2 piles, one in each size, of 12 feathers, instead of plucking feathers between flies.
peregrines
coltranem …it sounds to me like you aren’t “bending” the cape to make the feathers stand out…
Joe, I can’t imagine tying a soft hackle fly without “ruffling a feather”. 
Ed
ducksterman…I think your right maybe I was too affraid of bending the cape and hurting the feathers…I just was trying to be gentle with my new cape.
Thanks everyone
Mike