Hackles

[wsender]

When is it appropriate to use a cape vs. a saddle?

Also, what is 'genetic' hackle?

 

[BrookieBuster101]

The hackle on a cape the feathers have very stiff barbs. They are more commonly used on dry flies. Saddle hackle is better for streamers because of the soft fibers

Genetic hackle refers to birds that are genetically engineered for longer more desirable feathers.

 

[wsender]

BrookieBuster101 wrote:
The hackle on a cape the feathers have very stiff barbs. They are more commonly used on dry flies. Saddle hackle is better for streamers because of the soft fibers

Genetic hackle refers to birds that are genetically engineered for longer more desirable feathers.

Even if the saddle hackle is advertised as dry fly saddle hackle?

 

[BrookieBuster101]

Well they are different feather groups. The cape grows down the neck of the bird starting at the base of the skull. They are very fine feathers in most cases. The saddles are located on the back and tend to have longer fibers.
My guess would be the terms are being used interchangeably, but it varies on the breed and individual bird.

This painting I found on google images shows it pretty well

 

[BrookieBuster101]

The first pic, which turned out to be massive, is of a cape. The other is a saddle.

 

[gfen]

"Genetic" is any chicken that's been bred for long vanes, with lots of short, stiff barbs.

Saddles tend to be longer, and I believe more uniform in length. The Whiting 100 packs are saddle feathers. They are normally more webby and softer, but then this is also a product of the sex of chicken it came from, with hen feathers being softer than cock.

 

[wsender]

These are the saddle hackle I was referring too. Looks quite a bit different from the ones you posted.

 

[tracker12]

This thread is very interesting. I understand where the saddle and cape come from on the bird. I am still not sure why I would use one over the other when building a fly.

 

[afishinado]

Okay, back in the day, a cape (or neck) was used for dry fly hackle and a saddle were longer soft feathers used for streamers.

Today super roosters have been genetically raised (see pic below) creating a dry fly saddle (the long feathers hanging from the rooster).

In general, a cape / neck contains dry fly hackles of varying sizes, while a saddle has less size variation but very long quality hackles that can tie several flies / feather, although saddles do come with both larger and smaller sizes.

I have both saddles and necks. I often buy the Whiting 100 pack to supplement the hackle when I run out of a certain size.

HTH.

 

[franklin]

Breeders found that through genetic management they could produce birds with long saddle hackles suitable for dry flies. The advantage there is you can get a lot more flies from a saddle hackle and often more of the same, more desirable sizes. I have one grizzly saddle like the one you pictured which probably yields 15 or more size 18 dries from one hackle.

 

[bam]

Holy schnikes. That rooster would destroy Little Jerry..

 

[sandfly]

The upper area of a cape and side were also used for tailing and streamers too. Saddle was LARGE then and used for large streamers. I still have some old capes and of course the old india necks.

 

[BrookieBuster101]

wsender,
The breed of chicken dictates the type of feather that you will get from the designated feather group. Some, like others have said, will have saddle hackles that have been selected for dryfly use. I think AFish's pic shows it better than mine does