Length & Proportion Probelms With Hen Feathers

[ikilledflipper]

I wonder if anyone else has this problem, whenever I tie a wet which requires a body hackle - for example - a bibio, I have trouble finding one feather to do it!

The hen feathers offering the correct fibre length for the proportion of the tying are never physically long enough to hackle the full body.

There are certain times when I have managed it, however, the result is never pretty and the hackle fibers seem to long.

I could do it easily with a cock feather, but this would not obviously do!

Sorry if this is a silly question.

[danielp]

Sorry if I am wrong here but is the bibio not normally tied with a cock hackle? I very much doubt you will find a hen feather which is long with fibres all of the same size.

I always palmer with cock, makes mroe disturbance in the water as well as the fibres are stiffer although you do get les movement.

Dan

[ikilledflipper]

Originally Posted by danielp

Sorry if I am wrong here but is the bibio not normally tied with a cock hackle? I very much doubt you will find a hen feather which is long with fibres all of the same size.

I always palmer with cock, makes mroe disturbance in the water as well as the fibres are stiffer although you do get les movement.

Dan

Dan, you're right, sorry! It was my foolish assumption that it was a hen hackle due to the fact the bibio is a wet. I was copying a picture of one without the listed materials.

God, I feel like a complete idiot - what a load of time I've wasted!

Graham

[weight_forward]

I mainly use hen for palmered wets, usually Metz hen capes, you can easily do an #8 or #10 from a single feather. Using non-genetic hen would be a real struggle though. I also use some Shannon saddles which are quite webby and not as stiff in the hackle as say a Whiting hackle.

[ikilledflipper]

Originally Posted by weight_forward

I mainly use hen for palmered wets, usually Metz hen capes, you can easily do an #8 or #10 from a single feather. Using non-genetic hen would be a real struggle though. I also use some Shannon saddles which are quite webby and not as stiff in the hackle as say a Whiting hackle.

WF - what kind of length difference would you say there is between a genetic hen & a non-genetic? Is there also a sizeable difference in uniformity in fiber length?

Thanks, Graham