So you want to tie Dry Flies & Wet Flies?

The two types of Flies are totally different and so are the feathers they use. In years gone by you would have no choice but to use Chinese or Indian Necks for your Dry Flies. Things have moved forward and we now have birds that are bred for the purpose of fly tying. Most of these breeders are in the USA with Whiting Farms leading the way. Whiting President Tom Whiting Ph.D. specialises in poultry genetics and husbandry, as each generation of bird goes by he is steadily improving the Quality of the Dry Fly Capes. If you put a Chinese and a genetically modified cape side by side you will see a massive difference in the two capes. The Chinese will be smaller, the feathers a lot shorter, the barb length long compared to the feather length and very webby, the quill will have quite a large diameter with a low barb count. Genetically bred capes are large, with very long feathers you will find the barb length is very short with very little webbing and a very high barb count, so you need less turns to keep your fly afloat also the quill will be very Fine so the feather will not twist when you are wrapping around the hook shank. These capes are a lot more densely feathered so you get more flies per cape. If you want to produce HIGH QUALITY DRY FLIES you have no choice but to use High quality capes or Saddles.

The Qualities that we look for in Dry Fly Hackles are:

Most importantly, the quill will be very fine which will help you form a perfect hackle collar on your flies. Thick quills will twist trapping barbs;

Short barb length so you can tie the smallest of flies 20+;

Stiff and shinny barbs that are web free. Stiff barbs will support your fly while web is more absorbent than the stiff shinny barbs;

Long feathers. The more flies you can tie from one feather the cheaper it works out per fly and long feathers are also easier to work with.

Rooster Neck Capes or Rooster Saddles

Whiting rooster neck capes will give you a very large range of sizes so you can tie small dry flies up to the largest of flies. Therefore if you are tying a large range of sizes a neck cape is for you. But if you are tying lots of flies of the same size you will put a line across the cape quite quickly where you have removed those feathers, and you will be left with lots of feathers larger or smaller.

Whiting Saddles are the finest Rooster saddles in the world with feathers that average 12” long. The down side is that you will only get 2-3 sizes per saddle. I find most Tyers’ tie a lot of flies in the same sort of range, 10, 12, 14 or 14, 16, 18. If this is you it would be much more cost effective to buy saddles where you would use 90% of the available hackle.

Wet Flies

By Wet Flies we mean flies that are fished sub-surface. So for your wet flies you need Hen capes and saddles. Hen feathers are totally different to the Dry Fly rooster capes. Hens are smaller, with shorter soft feathers that are more rounded and very webby. You will also see that the duller the cape the softer the feather and the softer the feather the more movement you will get in the water. Again Hen Capes from the genetically bred birds are larger with longer feathers and of a far higher quality than the Indian hen necks. The more flies you obtain from 1 feather and the more feathers per cape the cheaper the neck is on a per fly basis.

Why are Lakeland Fly-Tying only stocking Whiting Capes?

I have been tying flies for over 20 years and I believe in only using the best tying feathers available. I have seen for myself over the last 20 years how the (Hoffman) Whiting capes are developing and the speed in which they are advancing. Now I am running Lakeland Fly-Tying and Whiting Farms can supply me with their capes a range of different types of capes that no other producer can. For High Quality Dry flies we have Whiting or Hebert/Miner necks or Saddles. For Saltwater or Salmon flies there is the Whiting American Rooster necks or the American Hen necks. Wet flies (soft hackle flies) can be tied using Whiting Hen, Hebert/Miner or Whiting American hen capes. Or if you want super soft hackles try the Whiting Brahma Saddles, which are very soft and look very game birdie.

Whiting capes are expensive?

Capes are a natural product so there is always a range of Grades. The very top is Ultra Platinum down to Pro.Grade so you have 6 different grades and 6 different price ranges in each type of cape. Lakeland stocks mainly Silver, Bronze and Pro.Grade. If you require higher grades I can get these for you. I can supply you with Whiting capes that cost £100.00+ or Coq de Leon rooster necks at £8.50, so every fly Tyer will be able to find Very High Quality Whiting capes in their price range. If you need advice contact Lakeland and we will do our best to supply you with the correct cape for the flies you want to tie. Also look out for the exclusive colours that Lakeland stock. Lower grade capes like Pro.Grade offer Fantastic value for money. The Pro.Grade may not be as large as the higher grades or have the same range of sizes, but they give the fly Tyer a large, densely feathered high quality cape that will produce many flies.

The Whiting Range of capes and their uses.

Whiting Rooster, Necks and Saddles
Whiting rooster necks are smaller than the Hebert necks but more densely feathered. These are Dry Fly hackles of the Highest Quality suitable for all types of dry fly, collar hackles, palmered or parachute these hackles will do the job. Saddles will tie sizes 10, 12, 14 or 12, 14, 16 and necks will tie 20+ to very large flies.

Whiting Hen Necks
Very densely feathered with long feathers, very high barb count with a nice fine quill, great for wets and emergers.

Hebert/Miner Rooster Necks & Saddles
Very large necks but not as densely feathered as the Whiting necks, again a very high quality dry fly hackle with a fine quill and long feathers. The Natural Dun colours are particularly stunning. Saddles are massive with a feather that is more suited to palmering or larger dry flies. Saddles will tie flies in the 10, 12, 14 range and the necks will tie 20 to very large flies.

Hebert/Miner Hen Necks
These are my favourite hen necks for spider patterns. Like the cock birds the natural dun colours are stunning. Long feathers and more webby than the Whiting hen neck and softer. Suitable for wets and emergers.

American Rooster Necks
These necks are massive, with long, more rounded feathers offering a very good range of sizes from 12 to very large. This is not a dry fly hackle. Use these necks for your Saltwater, Salmon, Sea Trout and Pike flies. Very densely feathered and dyed in a fantastic range of colours.

American Hen Necks
Very large hen capes and densely feathered. Dyed in a fantastic range of colours just like the rooster necks. American hen hackles are shorter and more rounded than the Whiting/Hebert hen necks and softer. Suitable for tying flies in the 14 to larger size range. Great for your wet flies and lures.

Coq de Leon Rooster Necks
For £8.50 these are very Good Necks, not suitable for dry flies but great for lures and other larger flies. The actual quality of the feather is a lot higher than a Chinese neck. Coq de Leon rooster necks tend to be badger type hackles, so you get a black centre to the natural and dyed colours.

Coq de Leon Rooster Saddles
These are beautifully speckled and very shiny. Feathers tend to be medium to large in size. Feather barbs are long, very stiff and shiny. You can use these barbs for tailing you dry flies, nymphs or wet flies. They also make fantastic wings on your dry flies. Specialist tailing and winging feathers.

Coq de Leon Hen Capes
I love the colour of these necks! Very heavily mottled soft webby feathers with stiffer tips. Great for Wets and Nymph legs. You get a good range of sizes from 16 to large feathers.

Brahma Hen Saddles
Lakeland has a lot of exclusive colours in these saddles. Very soft and very mottled these make great substitute feathers for the harder to obtain game bird/water bird feathers used on a lot of the soft hackle spider patterns. These feathers look especially Gamebirdie. Suitable for Spider patterns or try putting 2 turns on the front of your palmered patterns. They will tie flies in 16 to 8 size range.