Spey Pages banner

Hackle - Gold?

3K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  Marty 
#1 ·
What a shock! Hairdressers are snapping up premium hackle - the photos & story on today's "Midcurrent" site show saddle hackle in ladies' hair. The article said some big name hackle companies and shops are getting cleaned out. So maybe I can get real gold for my premium necks?
 
#4 ·
nothing is free bro
wine and dine ,:tsk_tsk:
before you get to put your hands all over that hair piece:hihi:
and ya gotta have 2 good legs:eek::chuckle:
when you getting back on the bench hmmmmmmmmm:razz:
wanna see some of oliver edwards work ya know
kevin
 
#6 ·
I think my local fly shop has been speculating in hackle - mysterious shipments, piles of heretofore unseen golden badger and ginger variants. At first I was willing to believe they were just stocking up to assure supply for local flytiers, but when my suggestion about a challenge question for potential buyers (something about nymphs, perhaps) fell on deaf ears I began to fear the worst.... :)
 
#8 ·
We sold a few Euro saddles before we figured out what was going on. I'm getting severals calls a week but I'm saving my stock for fly tiers.

So far the simple question of "what patterns are you tying" ends the phone call with a "I'll have to call you back". At my shop shop these hackles are only used for certain styles of flies. Someone may figure it out but they will have to know something of PNW steelheading.
 

Attachments

#16 ·
It is nice to know that you are protecting us in this matter :hihi:

Maybe we should start telling the girls where those beautiful thingies came from, i bet 90% of them would not let them be in their heads again once they know it comes from a dead chicken ;)

nothing is free bro
wine and dine ,:tsk_tsk:
before you get to put your hands all over that hair piece:hihi:
and ya gotta have 2 good legs:eek::chuckle:
when you getting back on the bench hmmmmmmmmm:razz:
wanna see some of oliver edwards work ya know
kevin
Hehe good to see you back, Kevin. I think i will be getting back to the vise someday next week. For the time being, all i can show you from my Oliver Edwards learnings is this:



It is my first shot at this pattern, lots to imprive but it could have came out worse :p

Rob
 
#9 ·
thats already happening here in calif,we have been using these wild colors bought at salons here ,hair extension material is being used to create some wicked striper flies ,.
and ... its way cheaper than buying the standard colors from our local flyshops ...
and the big boys (stripers) dont seem to mind ,not 1 bit:chuckle:
moe
 
#12 ·
Glad the shops are getting a shot in the arm - its been a tough year.
If a fly shop is having such a bad year that they have to sell their primo hackle to a hair salon instead of fly tiers maybe they need to change something in their business plan.
 
#13 ·
interesting consumer point

first notion is hey good for fly shops good for producers. supply demand yada yada.
then there is two points of business practice. yes this is a fad. yes it will pass. hopefully the prices and supply can be controlled to the benefit of the fly tier as they are the customer to keep coming back.

is there a way to grade the hackle in a sense offer to others what is not so wished for by the tying community. perhpas with a lil tweeking there is a win win solution. opportunity knocks.

ive been tying feather and fake flower hair bands for my infant twin girls since they were a few months old. got lot lots of compliments and peple asking where i 'bought them' i told them glue gun and craft store. maybe i should open a business as fish recently have dissed my patterns this winter.
 
#14 ·
Whiting Farms is experiencing an unprecedented onslaught of orders for our EuroHackle saddles. This is not just from the fashion world, but largely from the fly fishing pro shops that have new customers coming to them to buy our dry fly saddles for use in various fashion modes; hair weaves, ear rings, jewelry and crafts. This new traffic and business is welcome by the pro shops but we are faced with a real dilemma: orders vastly exceed supply! Understandably the shops that have put in orders to Whiting Farms, of any quantity, and are very keen to get them filled. But the number of saddles being ordered simply doesn’t exist. We wish we had as many saddles as everyone wanted. The crop of EuroHackle roosters to be harvested for 2011 is fixed and no changes can be made. Increases in production of this product line have and are being made, but the increasing numbers will be gradual and won't really be seen until 2012! Therefore we have been intensely pondering how we can most equitably allocate what saddles we do have coming to harvest in 2011.

The only fair way, I feel, is to divide and conquer. By this I mean we are going to disassemble our EuroHackle saddles and repackage them in a new product line called the "Whiting Fashion Pack". Sixteen long feathers of a single color will be affixed on our branded board, very much like our Whiting 100 Packs, but not sized as to hook size. The suggested retail price will be $20.00. Most of the customers wanting these fashion feathers are wanting to experiment and so the smaller quantities will be welcome and more appropriate. The lower price point will encourage them to possibly buy a range of colors or several packs. A full or even half EuroHackle saddle is usually too many feathers of only one color for any hobbyist anyway.

In order to do this more fair allocation of our limited EuroHackle saddles we will have to cease selling full or half saddles as a product line. We are making an extra effort to keep our flagship Whiting dry fly saddles, and the new High and Dry saddles, in good stock to supply all the fly tiers' needs.

We appreciate your understanding of these needed changes.
 
#26 ·
Whiting Farms is experiencing an unprecedented onslaught of orders for our EuroHackle saddles. This is not just from the fashion world, but largely from the fly fishing pro shops that have new customers coming to them to buy our dry fly saddles for use in various fashion modes; hair weaves, ear rings, jewelry and crafts.

We appreciate your understanding of these needed changes.
Just a question, you say you are gearing up for this so called rush on Euro hackles, does this mean you are adding new pens for additional birds or are you going to eliminate other birds to make room. I kind of get the feeling even the so call dry fly necks, hen necks and such will become hard to get. Good luck with your new venture.
 
#15 ·
All the hackle requests I've had from salons is for Whiting's silver grade Euro saddles. These guys aren't looking for seconds. I talked with one salon owner that was looking for $5,000.00 worth of product, all Euro saddles. A single feather is going for $6.00 to $10.00.

Supposedly Whiting has not caved into the pressure from the salons. If it's found out they do there are going to be a lot of pissed off long time customers from the fly tying industry.
 
#17 ·
I think the Euro retails packs is a really great idea. Lots of retail customers don't want to buy a whole saddle. Being able to buy 3 colors in place of just one seems like a win/win idea to me.
 
#18 · (Edited)
thanks
its good to bed home.
is that a mud puppy:chuckle:
no of course not its a little fish ,of which the name escapes me :Eyecrazy:
had it on the tip of my tongue then poof gone,old age I guess:hihi:
looks fishy thou,well get back to work when ya can ill be waiting:D
 
#19 ·
I'm so glad to have already gotten some Euro Saddles (in the best colours!) prior to this current fad hitting the general fan of fashion commercialism ;)

Otherwise, with a limited supply (relative to the demand mushrooming out of control), then prices will have significant pressure to rise!

Although I haven't counted the individual hackles on the saddles I have, I'm confident that @ $6 per feather, each saddle has to be "worth" 10 to 20 times what I paid for them!! :eek:

Mike
 
#20 ·
Man you guys gotta get with the times!

I got some other colors and just can't wait to go out and hit up the clubs!:razz:
 
#21 ·
Now, if you enter the 'clubs' like that, I think they may call you "An Intruder"™ :chuckle::chuckle:

Mike
 
#22 ·
dude looks like a lady

The girls have been buying up all the quality necks and saddles in my local shops for years, and it's gotten more common lately. I've started dying my own feathers because I can't find any saddles in colors I like any more.

I was in a local shop last week and a 20 something girl was in buying a bunch of saddles. She was telling the shop owner that she makes them for someone in L.A. and Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) had just bought one of her creations. I guess Mike isn't the only dude sporting feathers these days.
 
#25 ·
I should clarify that the pic is just the "around the house" look, when its party time and my funky boots and hot pants come out I walk out of the house looking like a frilled lizard!:whoa::whoa::chuckle::chuckle:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top