Best Cape For Crunchers

[Country Joe]

I tie all my Crunchers with Hen capes, but i have talked to Anglers who prefer cock capes, saying they give the fly more kick,
What do you think,

[arkle]

If you go for a softer Chinese cape you get the best of both, as they "kick" but are also mobile.

[The Bear]

I use a grizzle variant chinese cape for my crunchers ,as i use the bigger feathers for shuggies so getting full use of the cape

[troutheaven]

Originally Posted by laurie

I tie all my Crunchers with Hen capes, but i have talked to Anglers who prefer cock capes, saying they give the fly more kick,
What do you think,

Anyone who tells you that you get more kick with cock hackles is, I'm afraid to say, talking out of their proverbial.

Take a cock hackle and a hen hackle and gently blow on it. The hen hackle fibres will move a helluva sight more than the cock fibres.

Hope that answers your question.

[Highlander]

Can't offer any advice on Crunchers as I do not tie/ use them but for what it is worth
kick on a wet fly is achieved by a couple of turns behind a hen hackle. Whilst a cock hackle naturally sticks out is is not quite the same as "kick". Wet flies should have what I can "good entry" something spiders & flies such as Clyde Style have in abundance. A fly with kick fished downstream will not have "good entry" A wet fly should "swim" in a natural manner when drawn through water with little or no resistance. A fly with stiff cock hackles fished downstream has definite "bad entry" where as a fly with "kick" fished upstream will keep it's shape better. On occasion one might see on some old patterns a hackle of "Henny cock" or sometimes "Poor Cock" This is the tier trying to impart "kick to the fly" by using a feather that is somewhat for sake of argument in between hen & cock. Having said that nothing is written in stone & it pays to offer something out with the norm on occasion. The Trout are after all the best judge of what is edible or not.
Tight Lines