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Originally I agonized over the ol' capes vs. saddles question, ultimately realizing that a half cape would likely last me years of tying any size & style I wanted to tie. Always before I'd made do with feathers that were, quite frankly, poor for dry flies. Then I decided to get hold of one of these Whiting half-capes.
The quality is superb--consistency, barb stiffness, straightness & suppleness of stem, color. Feather length in the usable portion is great too; most feathers can tie numerous flies (overall a half-cape is around a foot long). There are enough feathers to tie a LOT of any size I want...I do believe I could go as small as #32, if my eyes could do it! And tons of #22, #20, #18, #16, #14 and of course larger.
I fish what I tie, which means my tying is mostly of experiments of my own design, and also the go-to patterns that I use and lose. And I don't tie fast enough to crank out a fly every seven minutes. What with the inevitable interruptions, I'll do two flies at a sitting. So honestly a Whiting half-cape (assuming I have a couple of colors) is likely to last me five to ten years! If it doesn't, that just means the feathers are working well (or I guess it could also mean I catch a lot of trees). I like half-capes because I can get multiple colors in very cost-effective manner.
To me, a decade of tying with materials that are a pure joy to work with is something I value. Tying is so relaxing--a creative hobby in and of itself that feeds right into another one that's practiced on the stream. And I think J.Stockard's price is quite good, so this is a no-brainer as I see it.
- Michael Vorhis
...author of ARCHANGEL suspense thriller (which has some fly fishing in it)
...author of OPEN DISTANCE adventure thriller (all about competitive aviation and the deep sea)
There is not much to say, this is simply the finest hackle in the world, and the bronze grade is all you need. The hackle density is amazing and the stems are very supple. The "sweet spot" on the feather, where the web disappears, is close to the feather base, so the resultant hackle can produce many wraps. On a size 14 dry fly, you can easily make 8 full wraps of hackle. The dyed dun color is perfectly uniform and matches the mayfly dun color you see on BWOs or Hendricksons. No one in the world has ever applied so much science to poultry genetics, and the efforts of Dr. Whiting are well-appreciated by fly-tiers everywhere.
these capes are probably the best bang for your buck. they have considerably long feathers and nice supple quills. whiting farms has never let me down when it comes to dry fly hackles they're simply the best.
This is a great product at a great price. You get a really large amount of good feathers with a really good range of sizes with these capes. I am not dissapointed at all. These capes have met my needs for all the dry fly hackle I tie and will last a long time.
Very pleased with these capes. Awesome feather counts, long and fine hackles down to the smallest sizes you'd need. Slightly more expensive than the high & dry or hebert miner capes, but totally worth the price difference. If you're looking for high quality at a great price this is it.
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