Fly Tying Materials for Beginners - Hackle Primer 

You bet Edward. I'm no expert in all the hackles out there, but feel free to drop me a note if you ever have any questions I might be able to help with. Thanks again for the support! Cheers. -Matt

Yep, it sure can be pricey. And don't worry if it seems like there is a lot of info out there to learn! There really is, but it certainly comes over time. I think I spent my first couple of years tying using whatever I had for whatever I felt like tying. And I sure tied some crazy looking flies. :-)

Appreciate it my friend!

And thank you! I usually feel like I'm ten steps behind the learning curve. :-)

Dana, thanks for this comment! Sorry I'm just seeing it. I try to keep up on all the videos' comments but some of these older ones slip through the cracks. But I do appreciate it my friend. 🙂

Absolutely Paul! Of course it took me a few years to learn that. When I bought my first truly decent dry fly cape, it was eye opening the difference good feathers make. :-)

Thanks Harry! Appreciate you watching my friend. :-)

Thanks Mike! Appreciate the watch/comment. :-)

Appreciate it Marshall! Thanks for the note my friend. :-)

Thanks Lloyd! Much appreciated. Cheers. -Matt

Thanks Clyde! Glad you liked it. Now back to a tying video for tomorrow. :-)

Hey, I just noticed you signed off with Aloha. Any chance you're in Hawaii? I used to travel there for work all the time. PMRF on Kauaii. I used to drive up Makaha Ridge for the wild rainbows. Not many people know they're up there. :-)

Thanks Chris; I appreciate the kind words my friend!

You're most welcome James! Thanks for the note my friend. :-)

Thank you my friend! And same here. But when I was a kid, I had to learn from the library and bait shops. 😁

You got it Pablo! I am far from an expert in hackle, but over time we all learn a bit more and more. I know a lot more about the different types than I did just a couple years ago. Thanks for watching my friend. Cheers. -Matt

You bet Mark; thanks for watching my friend!

@@SavageFlies your welcome

Thanks Lora! I appreciate you watching. :-)

Thanks Jason! Glad it was helpful. Cheers. -Matt

Wow, thank you for such a kind comment A.J. I really appreciate when I hear that my videos are helping people. It makes it all worth it. :-)

You got it Dave; glad it helped!

Some time, can you do one on thread

Yep, definitely want to do one on all the thread options out there! Hooks too.

Ha! Not an insult at all. :-) Throughout history fly tiers have competed with other markets for feathers. The women's hat industry decimated the rare bird population in the early 1900s, literally driving some species to near-extinction, and making it impossible to get some of the feathers the original fly patterns called for. There is actually a dark underside to the community (I hear) that trades in rare feathers such as Indian Crow and the cotinga. But that's the salmon fly tying world. Here's an interesting link to some of these feathers you can buy legally. www.featheremporium.com/Exotic-Feathers/softbills/cotinga.html Thanks for watching Debora!

Oh yeah! Hungarian Partridge, quail and definitely a pheasant skin. 😁

I'd never heard this but that's a great tip! I might have to compare some of my cheap hackle to my good stuff by touching the barbs to my lips. :-)

Yep, and a Plymouth Rock rooster genetically bred to have long, slender neck and saddle feathers could worth $200 of materials.. Now for peacocks, I think they can harvest the feathers without having to harm the bird. I've heard of old time tiers who kept peacocks free ranging on their farms just to pick up the feathers when they fell out. Now we just buy them online for four bucks. :-)

You mention Harline "saddles" so I assume you are talking their hens, and are considering wet flies. If so, their hen saddles (www.jsflyfishing.com/hareline-hackle) are a good choice and I would go with the grizzly, but also a natural brown and black. A black soft hackle comes in handy for a lot of flies! If you're looking for tying dry flies, you could consider the Hareline dry neck chunks I talked about here-- but they are only available in some basic colors. Grizzly, white, brown, black, and I think grizzly dyed brown and olive. I would still go with a grizzly, and one of the dyed grizzly (brown or olive). They do have some half capes (about $20) in various colors but these are rooster capes and are primarily for dry flies. But they do have a lot of color options, and some of the smaller feathers on the underside can be used for wets and streamers. Of course, I would still start with the grizzly, then maybe a brown or olive. A ginger and dun are also good choices. But if you want to get fun (as you can do with bluegill flies), I would consider the chartreuse, teal blue and even the hot pink. Just keep in mind, one $20 hot pink cape will probably last you forever. Unless you just tie a ton of pink flies. :-) In the end, it's all up to you. Just have fun with whatever you go with

That's a great idea! I'm going to have to try that. :-)

Good points Colin. I agree it's always nice when you can look at a piece before buying, but that's not always an easy option for folks who don't have local fly shops. I try to support my local shops whenever I can, but "local" for me is two hours away and I usually swing by every month or so when I get out to the river. The rest of the time I have to buy online. Thanks for the note!

I'm not sure Kurt, it could be a bad batch of hackle. Is it old and a little brittle maybe? If you want to send me a picture of what you're using I might be able to help. (matt@savageflies.com)

Hey Jack, from what I understand, the answer is yes for chickens and a few other animals like rabbits, pheasants, and probably ducks as well. I would suppose any animal that is raised by breeders could be raised for material sellers. Animals like squirrels and raccoons and opossums, the pelts are most likely bought from trappers. That's a good question and I'll try to find out for sure, but that's my guess. Cheers. -Matt

I'm not much help there Jack as I've never really tied any jig type flies. But I'm thinking if I was doing some crappie jigs, I would tie in the feather tips (not wound as a hackle). And if you have any marabou type feathers on them, that can make for a nice lively body.

A lot of the barbs will stick together on hen feathers, and they're much softer and more flexible than rooster. Rooster feathers make for stiffer dry fly hackle. If you still can't quite tell, just email me a picture and I'll give it my best guess. matt@savageflies.com

Great point! I wish I had thought to mention that Whiting does have some combo packs that make it more economical. I think t hey even have a four-pack, of 1/2 capes now in Grizzly, Brown, White/Cream and probably a medium Dun. Thanks for the note! Cheers. -Matt

Oh yeah, I would definitely buy one of their 100 packs before an expensive saddle. But even those aren't cheap!