Dry-fly hackle question -

[David Lee]

bill - Did you know Ed Story ?? He ran Feather-craft out of St. Louis , Mo. but used to be a seal-hunter ( !!!!!!) here back in the early 50s . I B.S. w/ him every now and again and love the stories about the "old" stuff people tyed with .

Most of us "younger" guys now a days have NO IDEA just how good we have it - I mean .... life without Flashabou ?? You must be joking !!!!

David

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I would say that 90% of what we have today did not exist back then.

Many bought their tying supplies from the Herter’s catalog.

Some bought from Buz's mail order in Visalia. It was out of Buz's garage. I was there once myself.

Don Frasier was in Ruff and Ready near Grass Valley.

Art Dadini was in Ferndale off the Eel River.

For fly tying material wholesalers we had 'Hash's Herl & Hackle' and the 'Hackle House' who would call on the sporting goods stores that I worked at from 1965 to 1975. They had postage stamp size pieces of fur on the hide.

Yes, even then packaged dubbing did not exist. You bought everything on the hide. There was no synthetic stuff either.

[Darian]

Yep,.... The Hackle House was located in San Carlos in the Bay Area not very far from where I lived. Still have some Polar Bear I bought from 'em at $0.50 a package .

Also, still have the original Pflueger 1495 1/2 fly reel I bought from a shop named Imbert & Smithers in San Carlos.... (still very usable in spite of all I put it thru ). Loaned my Fenwick FF 85 glass fly rod to a friend who wanted to get started fly fishing.... Haven't seen it since (hope it's still peforming as well for him as it did for me ).

[Rick J]

Bill, you did not raise your own chickens??? I can see it now!

[SullyTM]

Darian...Check out the website http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/hwhackel/
That is, for the most part how I tie in hackels. Sometimes I tie them it by the feather tip...I'm not a purist so palmering hackles properly is lost on me...Yes, it is a bummer getting old, but it beats the alternative...Thom

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hey Rick,

I remember some of my customers would go to an auction and by old roosters for $2? Live roosters...........

We stopped for road kills too.

People would bring me deer and elk hides and I would use them too.

I once had a Polar Bear hide.

[SullyTM]

Bill...Nothing wrong with recycling roadkill. When I was in Michigan in April I got some nice roadkill bucktail hair and some red squirrel tail hair. Couldn't find any dead black squirrels! My rental wasn't fast enough

[David Lee]

Bill...Nothing wrong with recycling roadkill. When I was in Michigan in April I got some nice roadkill bucktail hair and some red squirrel tail hair. Couldn't find any dead black squirrels! My rental wasn't fast enough

Thom -

Good one ! David

[Darian]

Thom,.... By recycling I assume you're talking about fly tying materials, not...... Oh,..... Nevermind :P

[SullyTM]

Darian...Unlike the Beverly Hillbillies, I DID NOT throw Bambie on the hood of my car! Though venison stew did cross my mind Oh, one other thing. I always have a pair of rubber gloves and baggies in the trunk just in case...