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About feathers...
The quality of a finished fly is to a large extent governed by the quality of materials used to tie it. With a dry fly, the feather, or hackle, is the most important ingredient, and the feathers that are available for fly tying vary tremendously in both quality and suitability.
Feathers used for tying dry flies are usually taken from the neck region of the cock bird. Collectively, these feathers are known as a cape and fly tyers can buy such a cape, which is the cured skin of the bird with the feathers still attached. The neck region of the bird supplies us with feathers that not only have the right physical properties, but they are the right size for tying hackles on the smaller hook sizes we require.
The reason cock birds are generally preferred is that the individual feathers produce more of a taper than do the hen birds, whose feathers tend to be short and rounded. It is the tapered section of the cock feather that produces a barb length suitable for tying flies - remember that we are looking for a barb length of around one and a half times the width of the hook gape. We also require a degree of stiffness in our barb. In a true dry fly, we are looking for the tips of the barbs to sit on the surface of the water and support the body of the fly, without penetrating the surface film. So a degree of stiffness in the barb is desirable.
However, it isn't as simple as saying that all cock birds will provide us with good hackles for tying a dry fly. There are five main factors that are required in a feather to make it fit for purpose: 1) Colour. 2) Flexibility of the stem - so it will wrap easily and is not so brittle that it will snap. 3) Barb length - not too long for the hook sizes we want to tie - generally sizes 12 - 18 4) Barb density - generally speaking, the denser the better, so not so many winds of the hackle are requires to create the required 'bushiness'. 5) The minimum of web - web on a hackle, or barbules, tends to weaken the barb so it cannot support the body, and it also soaks up water, making the fly heavier and more likely to penetrate the surface film.
Finding feathers with just the right properties for fly tying can be a tricky business. In fact it can be so tricky that the Americans have gone and produced a strain of bird specifically to serve the needs of fly tyers the world over. These birds are known as genetic strains, so if you come across the word 'genetic' in relation to fly tying hackles, it means that the birds have been bred specifically to supply the fly tying market. Genetic hackles combine an attractive range of colours, with stem flexibility and barb density, and can tie flies down to the smallest sizes. A good quality genetic cape is a thing of beauty in its own right.
However, this fly tyers dry dream does not come cheap. A genetic cape can set you back anything up to 60 GBP. True, a genetic cape will allow you to tie hundreds of flies and will probably last you a life time, but you still might consider it a lot of money to spend at the outset, particularly if you are completely new to fly tying.
OK OK - enough of the theory - you want to just buy some feathers, tie a few flies and go out and catch fish with them, right? Well here are your choices:
Feathers used for tying dry flies are usually taken from the neck region of the cock bird. Collectively, these feathers are known as a cape and fly tyers can buy such a cape, which is the cured skin of the bird with the feathers still attached. The neck region of the bird supplies us with feathers that not only have the right physical properties, but they are the right size for tying hackles on the smaller hook sizes we require.
The reason cock birds are generally preferred is that the individual feathers produce more of a taper than do the hen birds, whose feathers tend to be short and rounded. It is the tapered section of the cock feather that produces a barb length suitable for tying flies - remember that we are looking for a barb length of around one and a half times the width of the hook gape. We also require a degree of stiffness in our barb. In a true dry fly, we are looking for the tips of the barbs to sit on the surface of the water and support the body of the fly, without penetrating the surface film. So a degree of stiffness in the barb is desirable.
However, it isn't as simple as saying that all cock birds will provide us with good hackles for tying a dry fly. There are five main factors that are required in a feather to make it fit for purpose: 1) Colour. 2) Flexibility of the stem - so it will wrap easily and is not so brittle that it will snap. 3) Barb length - not too long for the hook sizes we want to tie - generally sizes 12 - 18 4) Barb density - generally speaking, the denser the better, so not so many winds of the hackle are requires to create the required 'bushiness'. 5) The minimum of web - web on a hackle, or barbules, tends to weaken the barb so it cannot support the body, and it also soaks up water, making the fly heavier and more likely to penetrate the surface film.
Finding feathers with just the right properties for fly tying can be a tricky business. In fact it can be so tricky that the Americans have gone and produced a strain of bird specifically to serve the needs of fly tyers the world over. These birds are known as genetic strains, so if you come across the word 'genetic' in relation to fly tying hackles, it means that the birds have been bred specifically to supply the fly tying market. Genetic hackles combine an attractive range of colours, with stem flexibility and barb density, and can tie flies down to the smallest sizes. A good quality genetic cape is a thing of beauty in its own right.
However, this fly tyers dry dream does not come cheap. A genetic cape can set you back anything up to 60 GBP. True, a genetic cape will allow you to tie hundreds of flies and will probably last you a life time, but you still might consider it a lot of money to spend at the outset, particularly if you are completely new to fly tying.
OK OK - enough of the theory - you want to just buy some feathers, tie a few flies and go out and catch fish with them, right? Well here are your choices:
Veniards Natural Cock Hackles
This is your cheapest option. These may not be the best quality feathers, but at this price worth considering to practice with, then upgrade once you have achieved some degree of proficiency. Remember - that whilst they may not be the best quality, you can still catch fish with flies tied with these hackles.
Genetic Cape
This is an example of a genetic cape. Quality is available - at a price! These genetic capes are beautiful to work with, and they allow the serious tyer to achieve a level of consistency that is difficult to match with non genetic capes. Although the initial outlay is significant, the capes do hold enough hackles to last the average tyer a lifetime!