Hair Braiding and Fly Tying

It appears that the fad for rooster saddles for hair braiding has arrived in central Iowa. Tonight when I went to work at our local Sportsman’s Warehouse I noticed some changes in the fly isle!!

Almost all of the rooster saddle feathers were gone: grizzly, dun, brown, you name it they were gone. The only two left were one black and an olive grizzly.

I am not sure we will be able to replace them.

iaflyfisher

It must have been a long time since you’ve been on this site. This has been quite the topic as of late!

Naw, Dale has been keeping up on this site :slight_smile: …I believe his point is that we hadn’t noticed the phenomenon in our neck of the woods (ok, prairie?..corn fields?) until just this past month or less. Dale knows first-hand how difficult it was to get those saddle feathers ordered the first time around…yeah, might be awhile before we see anymore there! Bummer!

Yes I have been watching this fad develop and I check the FAOL daily. Last night I couldnt find the other threads to drop this into and I was in a hurry … and upset…

iaflyfisher

Cannot help but think it is better for almost everyone… The hackle growers could use the sales, especially right now. The stores could use the income, especially right now. The fly tyers will see a little lag in the supply chain, but I can find a source for any color and type hackle I need right now without even standing up.

I believe you are right Hap. Selling 20 necks sure helped our department out! I have a call into the buyer to see if we can get resupplied!

Not a lot of shops left in Iowa to get these things.

Last night there was a young lady (14-15 yoa) that was asking about the feathers and had her mother come over also. She ended up getting some red pheasant tail feathers. I didn’t ask what she was going to do with those even though I tried to get her interested in a fly tying kit! :smiley:

iaflyfisher

Really?

Find me a source for a Whiting Grizzly Eurohackle full saddle, Please???

Davy Wotton writes that, “I was at Wapsi last week they are out of stock of capes and saddles and they are the largest supplier in the country.” See: http://troutpredator.info/general-fly-fishing-discussion/hackle-shortage/msg41437/?topicseen

A quick check found these dealers that are out:

http://www.shop.charliesflybox.com/Whiting-EuroHackle-EuroHackle.htm

http://www.edgeangling.com/search/?query=eurohackel+saddle

http://www.lostcreekflies.com/category/Saddle-Hackles-36

But you can buy this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250777771821&hlp=false&rvr_id=215004325847&crlp=1_263602_304652&UA=M*S%3F&GUID=91d2519112b0a0abd21028e0ffff187f&itemid=250777771821&ff4=263602_304652#ht_694wt_650

Rumors abound. One is that Whiting will not sell hackle in full or half saddles anymore.

A local fly shop had them in there a few days ago, so I could call from here… But you do have a valid point and my best stoat imitation would point you at the disclaimer “I need” in your quote of my post. :wink:

Having more hackle on hand than most large fly shops makes it easy for me to ride that wave.
art

I hope that this will be a typically short term fashion trend. It may present an opportunity for smaller growers to break Whiting’s near monopoly in many fly shops. To that extent it may be a good thing for fly tyers.

It took me a while but I finally got your point. :wink:

I’ve got all the small hackle I “need”, but size 12 and larger saddle hackles are non existent within my reach. It’s the Eurohackles saddles I need.

How many flies would this tie?

Very Depressing!!!

Need some peacock to go with your hackle?

http://weddingbellsblog.com/unusual-bridal-gowns/three-most-expensive-wedding-dresses-of-2009/

The peacock wedding dress is amazing!

This to shall pass. Remember a few years ago when you couldn’t buy a pair of Carhartts to save your butt? :wink: Wonder how many sets are sitting in closets, drawers or went to Goodwill. Bad thing is a lot of nice hackle will end up on the trash.

That’s for sure!! BUT … click down another frame … DIAMONDS!!! Yeowza!! Now THAT’S gorgeous!!

Stopped by the two local big box stores (Cabelas and Wholesale Sports). Both had been cleaned out of saddle hackle. Since I use mostly capes, it’s not a big deal to me. Have thought about trying to sell off the saddles I have to finanace a fishing trip.

REE

Ron, finally someone with a very innovative plan, why didn’t I think of it?! Now, let’s see if I can set up a card table in front of my local beauty supply store…:smiley: Daddy needs a trip to Alaska:cool:

Kelly.

You don’t need to sell them off intact, I was looking at one of the ebay links. They are getting about $2 per feather in hair extension and hair clip. Get a good look at them ready to use and replicate. Marking a hair extension or clip can’t be any harder than a Stimulator or a Royal Wulff.

You have lots of feather dresses to pick from here:

http://www.google.com/images?q=feather+dresses&hl=en&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbs=isch:1&ei=D311TYjnI4a4sAPGs5CyBA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CA0Q_AUoAQ&biw=1440&bih=672