FLYMPH FORUM

Please share your thoughts on the top 6 most commonly used hen neck colors that a soft hackle/wet fly tyer shouldn't be without.

Thanks- Ken

Light blue dun
Medium dun
Grizzly
Coachman brown
Honey dun
Medium ginger

I kind of go with tie2fish's list, except I don't find myself using grizzly that often. I would take that out and put a furnace neck in it's place.

I have a few necks that I seem to migrate to. One is a green wells neck and one is a badger neck. The both have a darker color near the rachis with lighter color near the outside of the barbs. I have no other reason other than the darker color inside seems to cast more of a shadow near the thorax. Probably a confidence thing , but I seem to do better with that approach.

Dave

I’m surprised black isn’t in that list But I do struggle to see what I’d take out to accomodate it. Perhaps the grizzly. For me personally I’d also take out med Dun and replace with natural Coq De Leon... same sorta colour but with wonderful speck

I seem to have about 50 shades of brown. I went looking for the proverbial whiter shade of pale and dug around until I found one; it was brown. I have a beautiful dark-ish dun neck I like, a lot ...though it might be a little on the brown side of dun.

Black is good; maybe I should get some black hen. Whenever I think of using black I'm usually tying small and I reach for starling.

Brown
Ginger
CDL
Dark Dun
Brahma
Light Dun

My most commonly used 6 hen are:

Honey Dun
Light Dun
Dark Dun
Rusty Dun
Furnace
Badger

I prefer dark dun over black and I'll use the rusty dun or furnace for brown depending on how dark of shade I want. I use the honey dun or light dun for any of the lighter bugs. I do have a grizzly dun that I like a lot but probably use the badger more as the grizzly dun isn't much different from the light dun when wrapped.

Only six?
If only I could have six then I could change my name.
But here goes.........
Grizzley
Medium blue dun
Cree
Golden badger
Light blue dun
Silver badger

And then about six more......
Or maybe a dozen more.
Thanks
Al

The ones I use:

Iron blue dun
Light blue dun
Cream
Furnace
Ginger
Brown (aka Red)

I don't think I've ever used hen grizzly except as wings on an Adams dry. If I want grey barred hackle, there are plenty on a Hun skin.