By this I mean would a Griz cape or neck be your first buy and what color would be number 2,etc. As a second part of the question is truly how many do you “need”.
It depends what region you are in. In the Northeast I would say Med Dun, then Grizzly, then brown. Out West I would say Grizzly, then Brown, then Med Dun.
If you were trying to go really spartan…a good Gizzly/dun neck & a Good Cree neck would cover it all for me. But that would be far too limiting and would take alot of the fun out of it for me.
Grizzly, ginger, brown and dun in that order. As to all of the other capes I have, I must have “needed” them at the time or I wouldn’t have bought them, at least that’s what I tell myself (lol).
Regards,
Scott
Don’t buy any capes, for the cost of a cape just buy the hackled flies you want, I’d get a pheasant tail & CDC. I haven’t tied a fly with hackle in years (I have 100’s) and never fish with them.
grizzly, brown, dun and ginger variant.
order of preference is up to you depending on what you want to tie
I would buy in the order I started tying particular flies. I would buy 100 packs and no necks.
Trout: Capes, in Grizzly, Coachman Brown, either Barred Ginger or Cree would be my third choice.
Saltwater: Necks, in White, Grizzly ( Natural & Dyed Chartreuse ), Bright Red.
Steelhead: Necks, in Black, Fl. Fire Orange and the third would be a tie for me, either Grizzly or Furnace.
Each type appropriate to it’s use.
Re: " As a second part of the question is truly how many do you “need”.
If someone just starting out in tying were to see my cape’s chest… I think it was LF that recently posted a note on how to recognize the signs of a stroke.
What I truly need, is more of what I blow through and less of what’s left.
Best, Dave
Grizzly, Brown, White, Dun rooster capes/necks then a dark brown hen back with motley pattern of brown and black and a grouse skin. That’s the order of what I use the most of.
John
Partridge, starling,waterhen,grouse some quail. You were talking about the most effective flies, Soft Hackles?
I assume we are talking dry fly hackle.
Need: grizzly, brown (If I had to, I could get by with those two.)
Very handy: med dun, ginger
Good to have: black, white, light dun
Want: cree, furnace, honey dun…
Grizzly cape (Whiting, any grade) and black Keough saddle for Woolly Buggers. Medium Dun cape (Whiting, any grade), and a olive dyed grizzly Keough saddle would be #3 and #4.
In answer to your second question, I don’t “need” any of these, just as I don’t “need” to fly fish. I happen to like to fly fish and tie flies, so I get however many I want…
If we are talking just dry flies, I would have to go with half bronze grade or #2 necks in grizzly, ginger, medium dun and cream. If we are talking wets, I’d go with hen necks in those same colors and in the same order. Denny would be my first choice as a source. 8T 
Hi Deepcreek,
I am assuming you are taking dry fly hackle for trout, and if that is the case, I would buy probably in this order: griz, medium dun, ginger, and brown. If starting out, I would buy moderately priced 1/2 capes.
Regards,
Gandolf
First I’d buy a Whole Pheasant pelt and a bag of good peacock herl. I mostly tie nymphs and flies that don’t use hackle. I have many fine pelts I got from Denny at Conranch. Saddles and necks that I use from time to time. I go on the theory that you can never have enough.
90 % of the huge supply of feathers and other materials I have bought over the years seldom get used by me but some like the 300 Pheasant tails I got off the internet for a $3.95 bid get used all the time. Anything I seldom use gets donated to the local chapter of our flyfishing club to the Youngsters learning to tie.
It depends on the flies you’ll be tying. I’d say a lighter and darker combination like grizzly and brown, or a medium dun and grizzly dyed olive. My opinion is a combination like grizzly and dun, for just starting out, would be too much of one general shade.
Again, it all depends on the flies you will be tying!
If you are looking at wets, I’d get a partridge skin, starling skin, and some India hen backs. Dun, ginger, brown, and black. A partridge skin and brown India hen back will pass for a LOT of wets!
Grizzly is my favorite, and I use it just about on everything. I am a GRIZZLY fan.
For dries, I would get grizzle and furnace.
For spiders: partridge, starling, woodcock, hen phesant, and snipe.
And for lures: ringneck pheasant, golden pheasant, and pukeko.
then everything else I could find, because, well, I would just have to!
- Jeff
Not a big fan of capes, with the great saddle stuff that is out there.
Would buy bronze or #2 Dry Saddles, in 2 size groups (12 and 14, 16 and 18) starting with griz. Might just stop there too.
Dry fly hackle would be fairly low on my list. I’d get a partridge skin, then a starling skin, then a brown (or furnace) hen neck. A pair of duck wings would be pretty high priority also.
As for dries, all my rooster necks are at least ten years old, and if I were starting out again, I don’t know whether I’d be buying capes or saddles. Tailing feathers would be my first concern. Color would depend on whether I were tying parachutes or conventional dries. For parachutes, you can get away with grizzly for most of flies. For conventionally hackled flies, I’d start with a cream or ginger, then either grizzly or a pale dun, then brown. I could definitely do without buying a dry fly neck or saddle for the first couple of years, though.
How many flies do you want to tie?