Help again please with Capes and Saddles

[paullap]

Capes, Saddles, Where do I start?. I am sure this must have come up many times, I have just starting out tying fly’s and need to buy capes or saddles for the hackles, The more I read the more I get confused, I was under the impression that Hen was for wet flies and Cock for dry fly’s until I read up on some tying patterns, Some people prefer to use Cock feathers for wets as they stand up better, I want to tie fly’s and nymphs for mainly river fishing and if was to buy a cape for all the fly’s it will cost me a fortune, I think I need a cape or saddle. Hen, Cock. Brown, olive, Black, grizzle, And also where is a good online place to buy. So please any help would be appreciated. Thanks Paul

[A. Fluker]

This question comes up quite often.

Take a read through this article it may start to point you in the right direction.

Tying tips: Dry Fly Hackle: Necks, Capes and Saddles

[TeePee]

Paullap.
you may also find this previous forum article usefull.

Which Hackles - My Experiences

Tp.

[XL50]

Paullap this will be expensive but buy wisley and the capes will last for years. Personally I prefer saddles if chosen properly will tie down to 16's or 18's. My recomendation would be buy a good grizzle to get you going and 3 patone pens, olive, brown and black. Use the pens to colour the hackle to suit the fly you wish to tie. I place a hakle onto a piece of kitchen paper and give the whole hackle 2 rubs on both sides set it aside to dry so make sure the colour has set and wont contaminate your fly this only take a few moments but better be safe than sorry. I also use latex gloves just to stop the pen staining my fingers. This will allow you to buy up through time to spread the cost and buy the best you can afford. Heres a link to Phil Holding's web site, I can recomend Phil as many others on the forum do as he is a gent excellent to do buisness with and has many years experience and will be able to give you further advice.

[XL50]

And for my next trick Ill attach the link!!!! Sorry

Fly Tying Materials, Fly Tying Equipment, Fly Fishing, Fly Tying – Fly Tying Boutique

[marmalade]

Another tip is to buy from someone like Cookshill. It doesn't really matter what you get because for each packet of feathers there's usually about ten minutes of free advice thrown in (on a good day - on a bad one maybe not so much).

Cookshill isn't the only one - there are several others on this forum.

I would also go for a very expensive half cape (neck bit) for dry flies. I got myself some sort of grizzle for about £25 or so and the flies made from the hackles seem to be unsinkable.

If you have experience and knowledge you could probably save on this without breaking stride, but if you had that you wouldn't be asking the question I suppose..

[shpeil]

Though it is in the articles, the answer to one of your questions might not spring out at you -

As a general rule, you need cock hackles for dry flies since they are stiffer and so keep the fly up better - but as the article points out, cheap cock hackles don't always do the job well enough.

Either cock or hen can be used for wet flies. Hen hackles are softer so have a bit more movement. Cock hackles, being stiffer, are better at creating disturbance in the water. So on a wet fly that you intend to dabble in the surface before lifting off to re-cast, you'd tend to favour a cock hackle e.g. the palmered hackle on a soldier palmer fly.

Neil