I have come to the conclusion that I need to buy some rooster necks for tying dry flys. But I can’t decide whether or not to buy a whole or half neck. I won’t be tying in great quantity. Just on occassions for my own use.
Any thoughts and or observations, would be greatly appreciated.
AnglerDave
Determine what you tie the most and order a grade 2 neck from Denny and use the deal he has and have it split to two colors. It’s a great deal and you’d have two colors instead of one.
Great hackle at a great price, just a satisfied customer.
Fatman
Fatman
Thanks for your reply. That is what I will most likely do.
What fatman said. Folks on FAOL rave about his products and service. He sounds like a really nice guy to boot. I plan on switching over as soon as I finish picking over the stuff I’ve got. Here’s his url:
peregrines
AD,
You didn’t mention what size, or color you needed, nor what your were going to tie. Generally speaking, while Conranch hackle is ok, I’d argue you’d be better off looking at Whiting Farms. Whiting has a much larger selection of dry fly hackle and in my experience offers a superior products at close enough to the same price.
If you only need a limited range of feathers, for example, I’d look into Whiting’s quarter saddles which run about $20. If you really need a cape because you need a large range of feathers, the Whiting bronze grade half capes are considerably better than the grade 2 Conranch necks I have, for just a bit more money.
YMMV.
I have to agree with Whatfly. Whiting Farm’s Hebert line also offers Pro grade $22 per cape $15 per saddle. The Hebert line also offers much better colors and come in a better range of sizes then conranch hackle.
Joe Fox
Another avenue you may want to pursue is “Splash” colored capes. These capes contain more than one color. You can get a dun splash Cape that will have Light Medium and Dark Grey Dun feathers on it. Cream/Ginger Splash or Brown/Ginger Splash are other combinations. Also there are those that have grizzly and another color/s and Badger/furnace with other colors. These are the Variant capes and they are good for tiers who feel that they won’t be tying a lot in one color but want don’t want to sacrifice on quality while getting a range of colors all in one cape. They offer a tremendous value for experienced and beginner as well.
I think Denny at Conranch has these. Whiting Farms Hebert Line has them as well.
If you want to go the economical way and you want necks then i suggest you get some Whiting Bronze Grade 1/2 Capes or the Whiting Silver Select 1/2 Neck (limited colours). If you want saddles then either go with the Hebert for full saddles or get some Whiting 1/2 or 1/4 saddles. The Hebert colours are a bit “buggier” than the Whiting but either one is a fantastic value.
i’d definitley say go wit denny. hes got some real nice hackles for a real nice price! another good brand is Keough. they are very inexpensive and very good quality. i bought a grizzly keough cape and i love it! as for the half or full cape, i would go with denny’s deal where he will split a grade two cape into two colors. i got a brown and variant grade two split cape. very nice deal. if you tie alot of adam’s, you might consider getting half brown half grizzly cape from denny.
I have never ordered anything from Conranch but I understand that they are standup people with a great product. I have just gotten a couple of the Herbert 1/2 saddles from Hook & Hackle and what a joy to tie with. Sizes look to run pretty well from 12 to 16 and nice long feathers. It is so nice not to have to use hackle pliers. I have a couple of the Kough 1/2 necks and they seem fine, but these saddles are much much nicer and only $12.00 a piece. I got the furnace and black ones and will definately order more colors.
Another vote for Conranch. Denny is a great person to do business with. You can tell him what type of flies your are tying and what colors you are interested in, and he will make sure you get what you want. I have nothing against Whiting, but the customer service and quality you get from Denny will beat anything out there. Having looked at most of his inventory over the past few years, I will attest that you will get a very good value and quality (I make a yearly business trip to Spokane and drop by Denny’s after all of the meetings).
In addition, Denny is a heck of a guy who is just great to talk to and be around.