"Big Dale" wrote in message
oups.com...
I would stick with stuff from Dr. Tom Whiting for trout flies, but
Ewings chicken feathers are superior for bass and sal****er.
Big Dale

Hi All,
I go with Big Dale on this. In another life, in fly manufacturing, we used
mostly Whiting, but found a gap, where Whiting wasn't doing bass or
sal****er stuff we liked. We went to Ewing, and got the feathers we
preferred. Whiting has since apparently filled that gap, after
"suggestions" from the customers, and meanwhile the quality of Ewing's dry
fly hackle has become better.
Me . . . no longer in the business, these comments are from a casual
observer. (used to buy hundreds of necks/saddles at a time)

I see Ewing hackle around here sold retail.
As mentioned by another poster, the price sounds pretty cheap. For Ewing I
would still only go with grade 1or 2
feathers. (personally , I haven't bought any feathers at all the last few
years . . .heck . ..I'm still working on stuff I bought in the mid '80s) I
have heard good things about Collins hackle, but have not tied with the
feathers. Gave the suggestion to the guy I was consulting to, for
consideration to buy for production, but apparently it didn't work out or
there was no followup.
At that time, and maybe still, Whiting is hard to beat.
FWIW, I still touch all necks/saddles even when I casually look. If a fly
shop/business doesn't allow that, move on. Ask them about the properties of
the feathers.
If they don't know, move on. Ask them about sizes of flies from the
different areas of the neck/saddle. If they don't know, move on. ( more
questions are better . . .but do your homework)

Heh . . . heh . . .you got me on this post. I have seen too many people buy
"stuff", in terms of feathers, and couldn't tie what they wanted.
BestWishes,
DaveMohnsen
Denver
(any spelling errors are the fault of my computer . . . new computer . .
..not used to spelling on my own