Genetic Hackle
Science has brought fly fishers high-modulus graphite rods, waders that “breathe,” and high-carbon hooks stronger and sharper than ever before. But perhaps the most dramatic scientific contribution to the sport is in the realm of fly-tying, where selective breeding has produced “super chickens” with designer hackle specifically suited for different fly-tying needs. Today you can buy wide, webby neck hackle created for bass bugs and saltwater flies; genetically engineered saddle hackle perfect for tiny dry flies; and even hackle bred specifically to produce realistic mayfly tails.
These feathers are a fly-tying marvel, genetic manipulations selected over generations to produce hackle undreamed of by the fly tiers of yesteryear. Tom Whiting of Whiting Farms, Inc., is unquestionably at the forefront of this feather revolution; however, like most developments in our sport, his hi-tech approach began in the backyards of fishermen and fly tiers whose generosity and passion for the sport pioneered the way for modern advancements.
A Short History of Modern Hackle
The most important genetic work of the early period of hackle raising in the United States came from Catskill fly tier Harry Darbee, who produced the best available stock of the day. Though others in both the United States and England had been experimenting with raising birds for their hackle, his efforts in the 1940s and 50s built the foundation for much of the commercial hackle we use today.
Darbee selected his stock based mainly on color, but he was also a commercial fly tier and considered factors like hackle length, barbule stiffness, and the amount of webbing. Harry Darbee started with Thompson Barred Rock roosters (an American breed), and mixed them with Old English Game, Blue Andalusians, and several other breeds. Darbee used what he called a “shotgun approach” for his breeding program, crossing a dozen different colored hens with a single dun-colored rooster to produce colors like blue dun, bronze dun, rusty dun, honey dun, and many others.
Darbee was well known for his generosity and sent eggs to enthusiasts around the country. One recipient, Minnesota lawyer Andy Miner, received stock from both Chip Stauffer (who began raising birds from Englishman Captain John Evans in 1937) and Darbee. Through careful observation, experimentation, and meticulous breeding records, Miner made significant improvements to the breed, though he didn’t sell his feathers. His capes—which Darbee called the finest in the world—had a wide range of colors and feather quality beyond what anyone had seen to that date.
Like Darbee, Miner was generous with his eggs, and the Darbee/Miner bloodline was shared with people like, Carey Quarles of Colorado Quality Hackles (purchased by Keough Hackle in 1990); Robert Wetzel of Bob’s Hackle Farm; Charlie Collins of Collins Hackle Farm; and Ted Hebert.
Buck Metz of Metz hackles also received a gift of 144 eggs from Andy Miner in 1972. Metz’s contributions to genetic hackle paid big dividends for both fly tiers and his company. He was the first major producer of commercial hackle, and the first to meet the demands of the fly-tying public on a large scale.
Before Metz, many fly tiers wished for exotic colors like ginger and badger, but because of haphazard breeding practices, supply was extremely limited. Metz was the first to “purify” his color lines so he could produce predictable supplies of desirable colors—and meet that demand. Metz also improved his stock, and his feathers quickly gained a reputation for being relatively web-free.
From those original 144 eggs, Metz created an operation that still produces 100,000 fly-tying pelts per year. Before Whiting Farms, Metz was the biggest commercial producer of fly-tying hackle in the world.
Ted Hebert, of Hebert Hackles in Lainsburg, Michigan, obtained birds from Miner in 1973. Hebert was most interested in raising blue duns, and as a by-product, his operation yielded a wide variety of unusual and very desirable colors like chocolate dun and badger fleck. Hebert’s hackle is probably the only bloodline with both the hackle quality we are accustomed to today, and the iridescent dun flecking coveted by the American fly tiers who first bred birds from England.
Most genetic hackle today owes a great deal to Andy Miner, though at about the same time Miner was working to improve the stock, Henry Hoffman of Warrenton, Oregon, was pursuing a parallel but unrelated course in the Pacific Northwest. Hoffman was consumed with a love of fly fishing and fly tying, and fortunately for us, he was raised on a chicken-breeding farm, where he learned the basics of breeder selection and poultry husbandry.
Hoffman was frustrated by a lack of commercially available grizzly (black-and-white barred) hackle, and in 1965 bought two Barred Plymouth Rock bantams from a show stock breeder. Instead of immediately using these fantastic birds at the fly-tying bench, as would most tiers of his day, Hoffman began a careful breeding program based on his own stringent demands for quality fly-tying feathers.
For the first nine years, Hoffman bred only grizzly roosters and concentrated on creating the world’s first dry-fly quality saddle hackle. He tied flies with samples taken from his roosters, and the best feathers determined the sires of the following generation. His strict selection techniques eventually produced the most coveted saddle hackle of the day.
By the mid-1980s, Hoffman had made great strides in the progression of dry-fly hackle, but decided to sell his business to someone who would take over his breeding program. In 1989, Hoffman signed a deal with Dr. Tom Whiting, who was just finishing his Ph.D. in poultry genetics at the University of Arkansas, and sent him 23,000 eggs. Dr. Whiting had been raising chickens since he was ten years old and had considerable commercial experience, though Hoffman agreed to consult for a five-year period.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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