Feathers....

[Chief Grey Bear]

Example:

#1 Metz Micro Barb Cock Saddle. My price is $21.49. To reorder they would cost me $23.97 now. I'd have to charge $33.59 and that's only a 40% markup.

Plus Wapsi shipping and handling cost is a killer!!

I can sell you the whole chicken for less than that. Dead or alive. All I need to know is what kind you want.

[jdmidwest]

Phil, its like everything else, you may have to shop around. Metz is an old name with some high quality genetics, but Whitings are usually longer and you use less feathers to hackle a dry. It is a matter of supply and demand along with production. The chickens are bred for the feathers and harvested for the feathers. They have to be separated to keep from damaging the feathers and the skins have to be dried and prepped by hand. A bad hatch could have led to a shortage of certain colors that drive up the prices also. Someone overseas could have placed a large order and dried up the market here. Of course, feed, transport, human labor are all factors.

I have a selection of Metz necks from the 80's and 90's. I rarely use hackle in dry flies, mostly CDC and Hair, both of which I harvest myself during hunting season. The 100 packs are nice for most casual fly tyers. A full cape gives you a full selection of sizes, but the 100 packs are great if you only tye a few sizes.

[fishinwrench]

A full cape gives you a full selection of sizes

Yeah but any given neck will be heavy on a certain size range. It's been my experience that the biggest part of any neck cape will end up in the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

[fishgypsy]

Yeah but any given neck will be heavy on a certain size range. It's been my experience that the biggest part of any neck cape will end up in the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

Send 'em my way I usually wind up using the whole neck, the rear third just takes a bit longer. Most of mine wind up on buggers, decievers, and as quill-bodied dries and emergers.

[techo]

My apologies! My post was an attempt at humor and didn't end up adding anything of content to the discussion. We do eat a lot of chicken right now and am about weary of it.

You guys are experts on the feathers. As a bass fisherman with baitcasters, I admire the time and effort put into the detail stuff by you serious fisherman! I learned a great deal on this topic.

[jjtroutbum]

My apologies! My post was an attempt at humor and didn't end up adding anything of content to the discussion. We do eat a lot of chicken right now and am about weary of it.

You guys are experts on the feathers. As a bass fisherman with baitcasters, I admire the time and effort put into the detail stuff by you serious fisherman! I learned a great deal on this topic.

Heck I wont eat chicken for a week after reading all of it that your eating. Wonder if the price of ribs has gone up?

Phil every thing fun as well as most every necessity has also gone up in the last several years at least that my .25 cent take on it.

[Chief Grey Bear]

My apologies! My post was an attempt at humor and didn't end up adding anything of content to the discussion. We do eat a lot of chicken right now and am about weary of it.

I thought the info was interesting. Though the numbers are technically off just a little. Those eggs would never have hatched. Those hens have never seen a rooster in their life.

[back2roots]

Our company deals with about 400 manufacturers. Freight on most all of them is just stupid high. A large number of them have done a price increase to our cost....some as much as 30%. I've needed to rework a number of quotes for that reason alone. My sales are still down about 50% and this month has started out very slowly. Manufacturers are selling less so therefore stocking less. Delivery time is now longer. It's just a hard time for all.

I think I need to go fishing!!!!!!!!!!

[Wayne SW/MO]

Not all necks are created equally and it goes beyond color and length. Good necks and saddles come from chickens that have been developed over a long period of time and irregardless of sales, the genetics are preserved if possible. The old Hoffman grizzly saddles would be a good example. They stood above all others and never produced enough to meet demand and you paid for it.

[Gavin]

Hard to find colors and good quality is always in demand but Taney doesnt have much dry fishing. I'd stick with stuff suitable for buggers and cracklebacks and let the other guy stare at his inventory. Cheers.