Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
“Of all feathers required for fly dressing, the hackle is the most important and, unfortunately, the most difficult to procure.” –F.M. Halford, 1886 in Floating Flies and How to Dress Them
How times have changed. If Halford could visit a fly shop today, he would be astonished. The quality and variety of modern dry fly hackle is extraordinary. Colors that used to be as rare as the crown jewels are now as common as a knockoff Rolex. How did it happen? A handful of meticulous, observant, and persistent fly tyers raised chickens for decades, choosing and breeding at each generation only birds with the best quality of hackle. Such ‘selective breeding’ yielded today’s birds having long uniform feathers with thin flexible stems and short, stiff, glassy barbs.
Chickens were domesticated over 4,000 years ago following crosses between at least two different species of wild Asian jungle fowl. Two separate and independent poultry breeding programs in America produced today’s fly-tying elite from ordinary domestic stock. One lineage began with Harry Darbee in the 1930s, and the other with Henry Hoffman in the 1960s. Their pioneering work on poultry breeding for fly tyers lives on today … literally!
Harry Darbee (1906-1983) was a commercial fly tyer in the Catskill town of Livingston Manor, NY. Darbee bred chickens expressly for fly tying from the 1930s through the 1970s. He began with stock obtained from the famous fly tyer Reuben Cross, but Darbee had the wisdom to diversify his flock by crossing it with old European varieties, most notably Blue Andalusian and English Gamecock. Darbee bred mainly for feather color, especially the many shades of dun. He spent decades seeking an elusive “self-blue” variety, which might yield only natural blue dun offspring. He never succeeded, but Darbee’s many flavors of dun were treasures of the fly-tying world.
Darbee was as generous as he was clever. He gave eggs in 1954 to Minnesota’s Andy Miner, who expanded the color range and greatly improved feather quality. Darbee described Miner’s hackle as “the finest in the world”. Miner never sold a single feather or egg, but, like Darbee, he gave many away. He gave eggs to Michigan’s Ted Hebert in 1973 and to Pennsylvania’s Buck Metz in 1972, who established the first large-scale hackle business. Metz subdivided the Darbee flock, yielding a series of lines whose feather colors were more predictable. This was an important advance, as it improved on the random “shotgun breeding” strategies of Darbee.
Henry Hoffman was a commercial fly tyer in Warrenton, Oregon. Disappointed with the quality of available hackle and being raised on a chicken farm, Hoffman decided to take matters into his own hands. He bought a pair of bantam Plymouth Rock (grizzly) chickens at a livestock show in 1965 for five bucks. The birds had exceptional feathers and founded Hoffman’s selective breeding program. He later added browns and natural duns to the flock. Within 10-15 years, Hoffman produced the finest hackle ever known, especially his grizzly. His improvements in feather quality were remarkable. Before Hoffman, rooster saddles were poorly suited for dry flies, but by 1980 Hoffman “Super Saddles” were legendary. Demand was high, supply was low, and Hoffman hackle was as scarce as it was famous. Genetics of both the Darbee/Miner/Hebert and the Hoffman stocks is now entrusted to Tom Whiting of Whiting Farms. Continuing advances in the quality, variety, and colors of Whiting dry fly hackle are nothing short of amazing. Hackles that most tyers thought impossible are now everyday items in any good fly shop.
When you next wrap a hackle feather of uncommon color or beauty, or you hackle a dozen #24 midges with similarly sized hackle, think of the observant poultry breeders who made it possible. Harry Darbee’s, Henry Hoffman’s, and Tom Whiting’s hands will be all over your finished flies. Their brood stocks are a century in the making, yet they continue to improve every year. We should all age so gracefully.
Copyright 2024, Rusty Dunn
Adams Midge
The Adams Midge might just satisfy all your midge needs, but black, olive, cream, and grizzly midges are also useful. Vary colors of the thread, tail, dubbing, and hackle as needed.
|
Hook:
|
Dry fly, #20-26
|
|
Thread:
|
Gray, the smallest available
|
|
Tail:
|
Cree or mixed grizzly & brown rooster feather barbs
|
|
Body:
|
Gray muskrat, beaver, silk or Super Fine dubbing
|
|
Hackle:
|
Cree or grizzly & brown mixed rooster
|
Adams Midge
Leave a Comment
Posted: June 11, 2024 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
“Of all feathers required for fly dressing, the hackle is the most important and, unfortunately, the most difficult to procure.” –F.M. Halford, 1886 in Floating Flies and How to Dress Them
How times have changed. If Halford could visit a fly shop today, he would be astonished. The quality and variety of modern dry fly hackle is extraordinary. Colors that used to be as rare as the crown jewels are now as common as a knockoff Rolex. How did it happen? A handful of meticulous, observant, and persistent fly tyers raised chickens for decades, choosing and breeding at each generation only birds with the best quality of hackle. Such ‘selective breeding’ yielded today’s birds having long uniform feathers with thin flexible stems and short, stiff, glassy barbs.
Chickens were domesticated over 4,000 years ago following crosses between at least two different species of wild Asian jungle fowl. Two separate and independent poultry breeding programs in America produced today’s fly-tying elite from ordinary domestic stock. One lineage began with Harry Darbee in the 1930s, and the other with Henry Hoffman in the 1960s. Their pioneering work on poultry breeding for fly tyers lives on today … literally!
Harry Darbee (1906-1983) was a commercial fly tyer in the Catskill town of Livingston Manor, NY. Darbee bred chickens expressly for fly tying from the 1930s through the 1970s. He began with stock obtained from the famous fly tyer Reuben Cross, but Darbee had the wisdom to diversify his flock by crossing it with old European varieties, most notably Blue Andalusian and English Gamecock. Darbee bred mainly for feather color, especially the many shades of dun. He spent decades seeking an elusive “self-blue” variety, which might yield only natural blue dun offspring. He never succeeded, but Darbee’s many flavors of dun were treasures of the fly-tying world.
Darbee was as generous as he was clever. He gave eggs in 1954 to Minnesota’s Andy Miner, who expanded the color range and greatly improved feather quality. Darbee described Miner’s hackle as “the finest in the world”. Miner never sold a single feather or egg, but, like Darbee, he gave many away. He gave eggs to Michigan’s Ted Hebert in 1973 and to Pennsylvania’s Buck Metz in 1972, who established the first large-scale hackle business. Metz subdivided the Darbee flock, yielding a series of lines whose feather colors were more predictable. This was an important advance, as it improved on the random “shotgun breeding” strategies of Darbee.
Henry Hoffman was a commercial fly tyer in Warrenton, Oregon. Disappointed with the quality of available hackle and being raised on a chicken farm, Hoffman decided to take matters into his own hands. He bought a pair of bantam Plymouth Rock (grizzly) chickens at a livestock show in 1965 for five bucks. The birds had exceptional feathers and founded Hoffman’s selective breeding program. He later added browns and natural duns to the flock. Within 10-15 years, Hoffman produced the finest hackle ever known, especially his grizzly. His improvements in feather quality were remarkable. Before Hoffman, rooster saddles were poorly suited for dry flies, but by 1980 Hoffman “Super Saddles” were legendary. Demand was high, supply was low, and Hoffman hackle was as scarce as it was famous. Genetics of both the Darbee/Miner/Hebert and the Hoffman stocks is now entrusted to Tom Whiting of Whiting Farms. Continuing advances in the quality, variety, and colors of Whiting dry fly hackle are nothing short of amazing. Hackles that most tyers thought impossible are now everyday items in any good fly shop.
When you next wrap a hackle feather of uncommon color or beauty, or you hackle a dozen #24 midges with similarly sized hackle, think of the observant poultry breeders who made it possible. Harry Darbee’s, Henry Hoffman’s, and Tom Whiting’s hands will be all over your finished flies. Their brood stocks are a century in the making, yet they continue to improve every year. We should all age so gracefully.
Copyright 2024, Rusty Dunn
Adams Midge
The Adams Midge might just satisfy all your midge needs, but black, olive, cream, and grizzly midges are also useful. Vary colors of the thread, tail, dubbing, and hackle as needed.
Hook:
Dry fly, #20-26
Thread:
Gray, the smallest available
Tail:
Cree or mixed grizzly & brown rooster feather barbs
Body:
Gray muskrat, beaver, silk or Super Fine dubbing
Hackle:
Cree or grizzly & brown mixed rooster
Share this:
Category: Fly Tying, Rusty Dunn Fountains of Youth
Recent Posts
Categories