https://www.securemerchantonline.com/howardhackle/products.asp?cat=11
anybody familiar with these?
https://www.securemerchantonline.com/howardhackle/products.asp?cat=11
anybody familiar with these?
Normand,
They sell an excellent hackle and often have a booth at many of the fly fishing shows up here in the northwest. In fact, they have a booth at our Fly Fishing Fair this Friday and Saturday in Ellensburg, WA.
Larry —sagefisher—
Their hackles are great. I have only used their saddles but am very happy with the the quality, color and length. Pretty tough to beat.
John
Have ya checked Denny’s hackles. I do believe his prices are better and quality top notch.
yes i have but i’m asking about howard hackles.
you can only know the quality of howard hackles if you have bought them to be able to compare them to conranch hackles. can you provide a comparison between them?
you must have gotten better stuff than i did from conranch.
i’m not committed to one brand or grower. yes i do have conranch hackles, but i’m always on the lookout for something else.
there are folks that swear by whiting, some swear by metz, others swear by collins and keogh and even conranch. its all personal choice.
I have some, I like them, but then again I also have Metz and Whiting and Hareline and Crystal River and probably a bunch others. All depends on what is available, what I am using them for and I am not to picky either.
Dwight
Normand,
Being a canadian company I jumped on their hackles a few years back. That website you are on is a mile stone better than their last one. I purchased my first howards hackle back in 2006 or maybe janurary 2007 (I cannot remember but im thinking it was 2006). Personally I have not bought their highest quality cape of theirs but I do own a borwn and a grizzly lower end capes.The hackles on their capes are nice however not quite as nice as the whiting gold that I have. You have to understand though that I am not a cape type of person.
As for saddles I own a number of them, maybe 5 or 6. I use them primarily for parachute and salmon flies. Their hackles are not as fine (ties larger sizes) as metz microbabr or the whiting dry fly saddles but they serve their purpose. They have excellent barb count and their grizzly might be my favorite. From the saddles I have the hackles are sometimes suprizingly long (over a foot) or fairly consistent. I do like their hackles for salmon flies, I have a dyed orange saddle I use for bugs and bombers. The hackles are really robust and the stems are strong. The hackle fibers are stiff.
I am sure they have only gotten better in the time they have been around, and I have not tried every grade of every product they make but I do have a good impression from them. I would buy their products again but intend them for certain types of tying. It really depends on what you plan to use them for, but I use the capes (with limited expereice) and saddles for dries, but find that my whiting saddles serve me better for what I do. (as you said it is pretty personal) For the price and the product I will continue to buy their saddles for salmon flies.
I hope this was at least a little help. If you had a more specific question I would try to help out some more.
Phil
phil,
your answer was exactly what i was looking for. thank you for taking the time to do that.
Hey no problem Norm,
Thats why we are here! I was thinking my answer might have missed the mark but im glad I could help someone. If there is anything else you wanted to know just drop me a line.
All the best!
Phil
I bought a cree neck directly from them on ebay… Was so happy with it I gave it away.
I have another cape still here and it is nothing special, especially in the stems department. They are not nearly as user-friendly as a lot of other brands…
art
When it comes to tying dry flies, I have found that whiting and Collins has been the best I found. I don’t agree that it is a prefferance when it comes to dry fly hackle. I would rather have good stiff hackles that wrap nicely around the hook and holds the fly up nicely on the water. I also look for for true natural color as well. So with the vendors out there and the cost to buy a great cape, I am very choosey about the material that I am using. Tying traditional Catskill flies has made me this way and I really think it was for my fellow members that taught me what to look for in Hackle like, Dave Brandt, Ralph Graves and even a few pointers from Marry Dette.
all well and good but how about howard hackles??
Normand,
Just tried a few feathers from the neck I bought from Howard Hackles at the Ellensburg Tying Expo. The neck is a #2 Cree Rooster. The stem wraps well. The barb count is high and the barbs are very stiff. I think it’s worth the money.
REE