There are synthetic materials for all the parts of dry flies - tails, wings, dubbing and other body materials, etc. - that are “better” or “lighter” or “floats higher” or “stiffer” or “more durable” or any other superlative the manufacturers may use to say their synthetics are better than the natural materials that have been used for centuries, so the sales pitches say.
Except dry fly hackle.
It surprises me that somebody has not marketed some kind of synthetic, hackle feather-looking product that can be wrapped just like natural hackle and will “float a dry fly forever”. Knowing how we tiers are, most of us would have to try it out and see if it works better, or at all. Synthetic streamer “hackle” is very popular and moves and acts very much like the naturals, so…?
Or maybe it’s out there and I have just missed it or haven’t heard about it.
I believe it was George Grant who said that he talked with 3M and was told it was possible, but not economically feasible due to the relatively small market.
I agree completely that there is too much - and most of it is the same stuff - and it’s a small market, but that hasn’t stopped companies in the past from putting things out there for us tiers at ridiculous prices. If there is a chance it may catch a fish, we’ll try it.
Nature and breeding have done a superb job of engineering dry fly hackle. There is no need to reinvent it. Most if not all of the synthetic materials we use were designed for other purposes. If there was a large commercial market for a product with the same properties as dry fly hackle, it would probably exist.
It sort of ‘exists’, but it’s more time consuming and slower that real feathers.
If you place those synthetic ‘tailing fibers’ into a dubbing loop, they make good hackle. Especially nice when you need longer fibers and want less bulk in them, or need very sparse hackle. You can easily ‘size it’, and it’s very light.
Only time I’ve done it, however, was when I was away from home and ‘forgot’ real hackle. Worked just as well, though.
Love my chicken feathers and certainly have more than I’ll ever need, and I’m still looking. Also enjoy my superfine dry fly dubbing and synthetic tailing material.
Touch a Chicken in Key West and wait till you see what happens to you. Fines and and jail sentence and so on. Chickens are federally protected in Key West Florida.
I took a mid-level employee of Hareline Dubbing fishing on the Missouri River last year, and he said to expect ALL natural materials to get difficult to find over the next few years, because the textile market (rugs, clothing) is getting hard into the fur and feather end. I would not be at all surprised to find synthetic hackle on the market within the next 3-5 years.
“Federally protected” doesn’t mean “endangered” or even “threatened”. Blue jays are federally protected but they certainly aren’t threatened. If chickens were CITES listed as a species of concern, Tyson and KFC would be in serious trouble.
Bugsy,
A former co-worker used to go there twice a year. He would use his digital camera to send me a steady stream of “chik pics” at work. There were some beautiful, blue dun roosters walking around. I told him that I’d get in trouble if I ever went there.
