Genetic Capes

[dougieb]

Looking to buy 2-3 capes for tying dry flies - mainly size 14, 16 & 18 plus maybe occasionally smaller.

Looking at 3 options but not sure which would be most suitable

1. Whiting Pro-Grade Rooster (full) - here
2. Whiting Bronze-Grade (half) - here
3. Cookshill genetic cock (full) - here

Leaning towards the Whiting Dry Fly capes and the 1/2 bronze is same price as full pro-grade. Will a pro-grade be suitable for the sizes I need ? Anybody know what sizes the Cookshill neck will tie ?

Thanks.

[budgie]

I would tend towards the Whiting capes. They some some mixed packs were you can get two different 1/2 capes in a pack, that are good value. As to sizes, I would recommend either phoning Steve Cooper at Cookshill or Nigel at Lakeland Flytying and explain what patterns and sizes you want to tie. I have always found them to be very helpful in ensuring you get the capes that fit your needs.

[horses50]

Go for the whitings,i have tried metz could not get on with them,feather just kept twisting as i was winding on,have not had that problem with the whitings.I got half capes from Phil at flytying boutique not sure if he still does them.

[arkle]

Tying those sizes, you might want to look at 1/2 or 1/4 midge saddles from Whiting's, Metz or okay, but the don't have small enough hackles on them in most cases, even their midge grades are larger than the Whiting's.

There are only miniscule differences between Whiting's grades re quality of hackle, it's the number & sometimes the length of feathers you get. Whiting's Pro-grade has larger hackles than their standard range, so go for a bronze or better still a silver grade.

[Chris Reeves]

Arkle is correct, check out the Whiting website and look at their chart, it gives an idea of which capes have which sizes, that said there is nothing to beat opening the bag and using your hackle gauge to check for yourself. The only ones I'd be 100% certain of the sizes are the Midge saddles which are always size 18 and less.

You probably know, a saddle will normally only have two sizes of feather, say 12 and 14 or 14 and 16, they just don't have the depth of sizes that a neck cape does.

As already said, a reputable dealer will help you with the choice if you can't do it yourself.

Cheers

[silver creek]

A cape has the entire spectrum of sizes BUT the stems are shorter and a single feather will tie fewer flies compared to a saddle feather. The individual barbs also get shorter toward the tip of the feather. The individual barbs are stiffer than saddle hackle barbs. A cape ties much fewer flies in a given size than a saddle.

A saddle had more consistency in barb length so the a saddle will tie hundreds of flies in a given size. Whiting capes are very consistent which means an individual saddle will tie only about 2 sizes of flies. So a saddle might have a few size 14 but mainly 16 and 18s. A true size 12 to 14 size Whiting is very difficult to find. They tend toward the smaller hackle sizes.

I have inspected literally hundreds of Whiting saddles looking for size 12s and 14s with little success. Your best bet is either Whiting Eurohackle which tends to be larger sizes or the Whiting "Pro" grade saddles that are actually cheaper because they are have less consistent barb sizes for a given saddle.

Another possibility is the Hebert-Miner strain of Whiting. These have longer fibers so tie larger flies. They also come in a less expensive Pro Grade.

With the craze for saddle hackle as a female hair extension, you are going to find it difficult to get saddles, especially Eurohackle and any grizzly saddle.

[la_jolla1]

Arkle is right. For the non-professional tyer the Hebert Miner is a great product, esp in "Silver"

Happy holidays all!

[dazwah]

Pro-grade would be fine. I have a few and they have most 14-20. Bronze will have more feathers, although the way I see it..if the cape last 1+ years worth of tying then the next pro-grade will be better as genetic Hackle becomes better every generation.

If you tie bucket loads of dries then go for a higher grade, or even saddle if only doing 2 sizes

[arkle]

Silvercreek & dazwah, perhaps if you re-read the original post, you will see that the sizes required are from 14 DOWNWARDS. No metnion of 12's.

Consequently that is why I made my recommnedation to use midge sadlles & NOT capes. Over the years I've handled many, many hundreds of gentic capes/saddles & my current stock is well in excess of 130 genetics alone, plus 300 or more non genetics.

Eoro-hackle's are totally unsuitable for this application, as they tend to have larger feathers. Hebert's are better, & yes I have about a dozen of them both capes & saddles in several grades. However they don't go down to the smaller end of the size range in any quantity.

The "hair extension" craze is fortunatly slowing up dramatically & prices are dropping along with it. Sure there are some people still trying to cash in on it, but their stuff is not selling & being re-listed several times before they eventually give up.