Getting Your Hackles Up!

Things have changed dramatically since the days of the family barnyard rooster. We now have birds specifically developed for their fly tying hackles, a result of over 50 years of genetic selection. In the beginning, progress was slow in the development of great feathers on poultry. Recently, a five-year project, such as Whiting’s Spey Hackle, produced amazing results. Today we have hackle ideally suited to our various fly tying needs, even for specialties like Atlantic salmon flies.

Finally we salmon fly tyers can have hackle ideally suited to our craft – Whiting American Hen Saddles and hen necks for wet fly hackle, Metz Magnum Saddles and Metz or Whiting standard saddles for dry flies, and Whiting Spey Saddles for Spey flies. Trout fly tyers have also never had it so good, with top quality hackle in a great selection of natural and consistently dyed colors at very reasonable prices. Gone are the days of trying to tie durable, attractive and productive flies with poor quality materials.

But how does an old-timer like me, a barnyard rooster aficionado, or a beginner choose what’s best from the dizzying selection of hackles on the market today? This column attempts to help us.

A rooster produces useful hackle on his neck, the feathers he uses to “raise his hackles” when angry or defensive, and on his back, or “saddle”. At the tail end of the saddle there are also some long, dense feathers we call schlappen. Roosters have long, stiff feathers and hens also have neck and saddle hackle, but hen hackle is softer and denser, with rounded tips. Hens also produce fluffy feathers above their legs called “chickabou”, a smaller version of turkey marabou. In a nutshell, with a few exceptions, rooster hackle is best for dry flies, and hen hackle is ideal for wets. Here’s a chart showing which hackle is suitable for your flies. I hope this helps!

Please stay on the line …