----- Original Message -----
Yes,
some of the Genetic Hackle necks cost alot, but you don't have to buy the Gold
series, you'll do just fine with the Bronze series...which have hackle as good
as the Grade 1s from say 10 years ago..
Dean
Dean,
I agree
with all of your observations, except this one, and that depends on whether
you're talking necks or saddles, actually. In necks, a bronze cape
of today is of at least the quality of a #1 of 10 years ago, many being far
better.
In
saddles, there is no comparison to the saddles of 10 years
ago- period.
But
one thing I try to make clear to everyone- and I had to see it and
learn it first hand at the farm in Delta, Colorado- is the point
of hackle quality. Tom kills any bird with inferior hackles of any
kind and ends its gene pool right then and there. So the difference
between a Bronze and a Signature Platinum is the FLY COUNT, or how many
flies the saddle will tie- nothing else. The individual hackles
on a bronze may be shorter- or longer- than on a Gold, but are identical
in quality. But the overall hackle 'count' would be less for the
bronze. So for the budget-minded tier, a bronze saddle will tie
just as high a quality fly as a Platinum, just not as many.
DonO
