I have been tying flies since 1965 and have tyed with most hackle available today.
I was introduced to Howard's Hackle about four years ago at a fly fishing show. Howard's Hackle is owned by John and Bonny Howard. Now for all our benefit, all hackle producers when asked will tell you they have the best hackle on the market. Well I am the type of person that needs to find out for himself. I purchased a couple of Howard's items and couldn't wait to ty a few. I was impressed with the quality and especially the way the hackle would sit when tying dries, I could actual manipulate the hackle to sit where I wanted it and not like some of the other's were it was a constant struggle to manipulate the hackle to sit where I wanted it, not where it wanted to go. I recalled some of the things John Howard had said to me about his hackle. Here is some of the information I received from John about their hackle.
- Our hackle is produced in a cold climate making the birds grow longer, thicker and more feathers than the southern growers. (More flies per cape and saddle for the tyer's).
- The stem of the hackle is round, making it easy to manipulate when tying.
- Our capes will ty as low as a size 30 and up to size 8.
- Our saddles ty from as low as 16 and up to size 10.
- Both hens and roosters are carefully selected for desired traits such as feather size, population, uniform feather size, web free roosters, fat sealed pelts means stronger, better shaft will not twist when wrapped and is hard to break.
Just a word on grading that will be important for you the tyer. Hackle is graded from 1 - 3 this does not mean that a grade 2 hackle is of less quality than a grade one, only the feather count is lower on the lower grades.
I have been using Howard's hackle exclusively now for four years and find my flies are stronger, ty a lot easier, colors are phenomenal, proportions look better and they sit on the water like a natural.
You owe it to yourself to own some of this hackle, you won't regret it.
We offer a 100% guarantee on all our products. If you are not 100% satisfied with this product send it back to us for a full refund.
