What is the difference between saddle hackle and neck hackle

And don't forget to check out the latest reviews on guns and outdoor gear on fieldandstream. Logging in Remember me. Log in. Forgot password or user name? Top Ad. What is the difference between neck hackle and saddle hackle other than price? Can i use saddle for my dries?

I've always used n. Posts Latest Activity Photos. Page of 1. Filtered by:. Previous template Next. I've always used n , PM. I've always used neck because thats just what came in my kit years ago. Which do you prefer. Thanks in advance Tags: None. Neck hackle and saddle hackle differ in size.

The biggest difference is in the length of the feather and the variety of sizes you can get out of a particular saddle or cape. Capes are a lot shorter in length, so two feathers are often required to get the full effect of the hackle. Capes typically have a larger variety of sizes to work with, so if you are just beginning to tie some dries and you plan on doing a variety of sizes and aplications, capes are usually a great choice.

Saddles are long and uniform in size, so not only can you get a fully hackled fly with one feather, in most cases you can get two or three flies out of one. Commercial tiers love saddles because they can save a lot of time from having to size hackles. If a person knows they only tie a couple of favorite patterns in a couple of different sizes, saddles are usually the more economic choice. If you buy the packs already sized, they use saddles as well. The difference is only really noticeable at the highest skill levels.

For general day-to-day fly tying, the difference is negligible. The larger feathers on capes that are unsuitable for dry flies also make excellent woolly bugger hackle. Capes are a good choice for newbies because of the large variety of feather sizes that come on one cape. This is a full sized hackle cape, and Whiting Farms is excellent quality.

This is a half sized cape, also from Whiting Farms. The primary advantage of saddles is the sheer quantity of fly tying material you get with them. They have extremely long feathers with very consistent hackle size. These long feathers with their consistent hackle lengths are also a joy to work with. The extremely long saddle feathers can also be used in large streamers, often to imitate a lateral line down the center of the pattern.

Saddle feathers also tend to have a denser barb count than capes do. This is great for really dense looking flies. These features make saddles better for professional or extremely avid fly tyers that are producing alot of flies that are in a similar size range.

I would strongly recommend going with a cape for the beginner. Several companies sell mini dry fly packs, and strung hackle is usually cheaper. As mentioned earlier, I do recommend buying hackle feathers attached to a hide though.

When buying hackle, I find grizzly is the most versatile colour choice. You can find capes and saddles that have hackle not suitable for use in dry flies. These typically have webbier feathers and are less expensive than genetic hackle intended for tying dries.

Just something to be aware of when shopping for feathers. Those soft hackle capes will not work for tying dries and are typically used for tying traditional wet flies and some modern nymph patterns.