Hen & Herl Spider

[tie2fish]

Back in January, I found a striking hen saddle in a bargain bin at a fly show, and have been trying to decide how best to use it ever since. For lack of a better description, I'm calling this a dark furnace saddle, but I don't think that's terchnically accurate. Anyhow, here's a spider using it as the hackle:

Hook: Daiichi 1550, #14
Thread: Uni 8/0, black
Hackle: Dark furnace hen saddle
Tag: Gold mylar tinsel, x-small
Body: Peacock eyestick herl bleached and dyed sulphur orange

[Hans Weilenmann]

t2f,

Striking combo and cleanly tied - well done!

Cheers,
Hans W

[hankaye]

tie2fish, Howdy;

Bill, agree with everything Hans said...
great looking fly.

hank

[tie2fish]

Thank you, Hans and Hank. Here are photos of the hen saddle used for the hackle; hopefully someone will be able to provide an accurate identification of the coloration pattern:

[CreationBear]

That is a great looking saddle--I'd have hip-checked anybody who got in my way back to Hoboken for it.

[chase creek]

Very cool fly; very cool hackle. I guess technically it is furnace, but don't think I've ever seen one with the dark area so prevalent. Very nice effect when wound on the hook.

[Hans Weilenmann]

I would say it looks to be a jungle cock saddle?

Cheers,
Hans W

[tie2fish]

I would say it looks to be a jungle cock saddle?

Cheers,
Hans W

Wow! That's something I hadn't considered.

[Mataura mayfly]

tie2fish, that's a nice fly, kind of a light Coch-y-bondhu.
Very nice hackle you do not see often. To my eyes and on my computer screen the feathers are not dis-similar to hen Mallard on the edges, just a bit more green/black in the centre.
I have never had a full JC cape to compare!

[DUBBN]

Great fly! Looks perfect for the tan caddis that will soon be makeing an appearance in my local rivers.