Necks

[bill d]

Which would be better for lough flies tied using hen hackles. The whiting herbert hen neck or whiting hen neck. Is there a big difference between the two??

Thanks

Bill.

[Chris Reeves]

The Hebert - Miner birds were the originals used by the great Catskill tiers of the early 20th century, They were prized for the colour and shine of the feathers. Whiting bought out the flock and hold the rights to the name and breed them alongside the Whiting flock.

The Whiting hens tend to be a little larger and are very popular with Salmon tiers as the feathers are quite long and the stems finer than most.

I use mainly soft saddle hackle for Irish wets, The Whiting Flat wing saddles are ideal for that, not too stiff and lots of feathers, I also use a lot of Brahma hen for head hackles on flies ranigng from Irish Mayflies through to wets and nymphs. The dyed olive, Yello and Golden olive are the most useful.

Having said all that Whting are very short of Brahma hen right now, I am waiting on an order made in May.

Hope this helps?

Regards

[bill d]

Thanks Chris.

[tenet]

Lakeland have recently received a stock of hen capes - look in here:

Whiting Herbert Hen Necks - Lakeland Fly-Tying Limited

[bill d]

Thanks tenet.

I got that newsletter myself. It's the reason for my post actually. I have plenty of the Herbert necks already and was thinking of buying some of the Whiting necks as I never tied with them before.

Just wanted a comparison between the two. I find at times the herbert are a little sparse in hackle especically when palmering bodies on lough flies, but maybe I've just been unlucky with some that I bought.


Bill.

[weight_forward]

Bill, do you fold the hackles when palmering? although it doesn't really make any sense, a folded hackle seems denser when palmered to me.

[bill d]

Folded ,as in stroking the fibers back from the quill before palmering, then yes and your right it does give a ''fuller'' effect. But be times it still looks a little sparse.

Have you uses either yourself?

Bill.