Whiting Spey

Spey and Dee flies demand a unique type of feather to create their swept back profiles and flowing movement in swift water. Initially “Spey Cock” feathers from special roosters of the Spey River Valley in Scotland from which both fly and chicken derived their name, provided ideal feathers to tie Spey and Dee flies. But the already obscure Spey Cock stock dwindled into oblivion in the early 20th century, or at least their numbers became insufficient to perpetuate this specific line of fowl.

Furthermore, the use of feathers from various European and Asian heron species came into vogue in Spey, Dee and other salmon flies, de-emphasizing the use of Spey Cock feathers which also contributed to their demise. With the advent of legal protection of heron species, especially in North America, the search for suitable substitutes for heron feathers led to a number of other species and types of feathers being tried. Particular heron substitutes have included rooster schlappen and coque feathers, Ring-Necked Pheasant and Blue Eared Pheasant “rump” saddle feathers, bleached goose shoulder and various duck flank feathers. All these substitutes have been used with varying success and are in themselves a testament to the ingenuity and creativity of Spey fly tiers. But what worked best; Spey Cock and Heron, was what was actually sought, not the substitute. Instigating a number of genetic avenues, development proceeded towards a “genetic” Spey Hackle, which then became available after about 5 years of initial selection work. Feather characteristics sought included long, substantial barbs, absence of any webbing between the barbs, non brittleness of the entire feather and excellent density for good value. In addition to a pure white, which is deal for dying, an array of other colour and pattern genes were incorporated into this “genetic” Spey hackle stock. Thus new and unusual feather colours and patterns would be available to encourage the inherent creativity of fly tiers. A wide range of feather sizes will also be available from these “genetic” Spey hackle chicken, thus allowing an even wider range of fly sizes to be tied.

 

 

Whiting Heritage

Like all Heritage Hackle, these feathers originate from the esteemed Hebert line, renowned for its diverse and vibrant natural hues. Available in various sizes, most ranging from #12 to #16, with select feathers extending up to size #4, these capes are perfect for crafting Catskill and classic dry flies.

NB! Expect variations within each colour scheme.

 

Whiting Softhackles

Two very unique feathers in 1 pelt. The first feather, the soft hackle, is a wide, webby soft feather great for large collars on salmon, steelhead, bass, and saltwater flies. The second feather, the chickabou is a smaller marabou. Much finer than turkey marabou, the chickabou is excellent for small streamers, leech patterns, dragonfly, and damselfly nymphs.

 

 

Whiting Smaller Packs

There are feathers for all budgets in the Whiting Range. And if you’re looking for just a few feathers for a certain pattern or an upcoming trip, there are smaller budget packages in the Whiting assortment for you.

 

 

Whiting Hen Hackles

Whiting’s Hen Hackles are perfect for a multitude of purposes; from making front and palmer hackles on streamers, salmon flies, and wet flies to tying in fine nymph legs – and everything in between.

 

 

Whiting Red label cape and saddle

Whiting’s Iconic dry fly hackles are the benchmark for the discerning dry fly fisherman and fly tyer.

 

 

Whiting Dry Fly Cape and Saddle

Whiting’s genetic dry fly hackle has been in continuous development for over 50 years. The earliest hackle pioneers, most notably the legendary Catskill fly tier Harry Darbee and Minnesota attorney Andy Miner, were the first devoted individuals who successfully raised and genetically selected roosters to have better dry fly hackle.

Their stocks were the foundation for almost all genetic hackle lines today. In the mid 1960’s Henry Hoffman of Oregon began raising the finest dry fly grizzly the world had ever seen. During the 1970’s and 80’s a dramatic blossoming of quality and availability in dry fly hackle took place led predominantly by the hackle pioneers of their generation, Hoffman, Hebert and Metz. These devoted and unique individuals brought to the ever increasing fly tiers of the world dry fly hackle that their predecessors, Darbee and Miner, could only have dreamed about In 1988 Thomas Whiting of Colorado finished his doctorate in Poultry Science and in the Spring of 1989 launched himself into the hackle business. Starting with the well known Hoffman dry fly hackle line, he also introduced Darbce, Miner and other assorted stocks to broaden the colour range and genetic foundation with which to work. The fledgling company, Whiting Farms, rose during the 1990’s to become the dominant hackle company in the world. In 1997 the excellent Hebert hackle line was also acquired to expand and complement the range of products offered by Whiting Farms. In addition new genetic lines of birds developed by Dr. Whiting were coming to market providing feathers for other types of fly tying. Most notably is the American Hackle; a uniquely versatile fowl excellent for salt water, bass, streamers, steel head and other tying applications.

After 10 years of careful study, experimentation and refinement of the genetic selection and husbandry systems essential for these demanding hackle stocks, the feather products from Whiting Farms have risen to new levels of quality Genetic progress has been ever accelerating and the unique environmental and nutritional requirements for realizing these genetic advances have been increasingly well defined by Dr. Tom and the crack staff at Whiting Farms. This higher plateau of quality and value demanded a rethinking of how dry hackle capes are graded, packaged and sold. No longer is the old grading system of 1, 2, and 3 appropriate. Rather, an Olympic medal designation will more effectively guide the fly tier to their appropriate level of expenditure. In the Olympic medal system, all grades of Whiting hackle are of the highest quality (i.e, excellent barbs, quill, turning and web freeness for exceptional hackle collars). The differences between grades is determined by assessing usable feather length, range of hook sizes and ultimately the total number of flies that can be tied from the pelt.

 

 

Whiting American Range

Whiting’s Genetic American fly tying feathers were specifically engineered to provide the best saltwater and warmwater large feather hackle necessary for the rigours of tying and fishing large flies. American feathers provide a stiff quill, dense barb and webbing and superbly dyed colourfast-colours perfect for saltwater and warmwater applications. Whiting was the first to offer genetic saltwater and warmwater tying feathers. However, these feathers can do so much more…

 

 

Whiting Coq de Leon

Learn what makes Coq de Leon hackles so special and how they’re applied to your fly tying.