Hackle Question

[ALG]

I have been tying for around half a year and I have two Hoffman grade 2 hackles. I have noticed that many, (A WHOLE LOT) of the feathers are too big to use for even a size 14 fly. Does this mean that I have gotten a bad deal, or is it normal to have a lot of extra wasted feathers? ------ALG

[Drifter]

ALG,

Those feathers need not be wasted. They can be used to tie streamers, muddlers, and b****flies. You can also use them to "palmer" hopper patterns, and then trim them to the proper shape.

And if you flyfish in saltwater, use them for deceivers, clouser minnows, etc.

The Drifter

[NetBoy]

I'm assuming you have two capes. If so, capes offer the widest size range. As Drifter said, the larger feathers near the top can be used for larger patterns. They get smaller as you go down the cape. I think a cape goes down to a size 22 or 26. Most people get a cape because of the wide size selection.
If you want to concentrate on a certain size, Hoffman sells smaller saddle packs that tie in a certain size range (12-16). I plan on buying these from now on. I bought one that is almost all sz 16 http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif but it also has some size 20 http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif.

NetBoy

[Loren]

Larger hackle can be used to make wings using Al Beatty's Quick N'Easy method. See the article on this on the Virtual Fly Shop's fly tier board
http://www.flyshop.com/Bench/Features/10-96QNE/index.html

Just a note: I don't like these wings but lots of folks do and they use up your larger feathers.

Loren