Murph and all, I have one of those 'Fred's (Barney), and you could pluck feathers for years of personal flies to be fished and Fred would not even miss them. The fly yield is so great from that saddle it would take years to deplete it even if you were a professional tier. I'm serious. If you've never seen a high-gold or platinum saddle, you can't imagine the fly count a whole cape would tie up. (That's why the co-op swap is such a good idea.)
BTW, if you did purchase Fred and used the neck and saddle hackles to tie with, you would be getting a gold cree neck and a gold+ cree saddle, plus all of the other body feathers for woolies and soft hackles, plus the tail schlappen, all for the same price. Having the bird there is a great way to organize all the hackles, too- right there for the plucking. That bird is a great deal for a tier, and you would pay as much if you bought all of the feathers in bags- IF you could ever find them. You'd just have to live with that half-naked rooster staring at you. I have no financial interest here, it's just a good deal any way you used him. This is probably your best chance to get great cree hackles for tying, even if you don't want the stuffed bird. I'm on the waiting list for another mount- A Coq de'Leon rooster, which will have speckled saddle feathers 8" to 10" long. Just waiting for him to grow up. DonO ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 7:41 AM Subject: Re: [VFB] Meet Fred the Chicken In a message dated 10/15/2004 10:16:28 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Fred is a genuine Whiting Farms brood stock rooster. The best of the best! He is a much sought after Cree of the highest grade we've ever seen. Shucks Byard, all I'd do is ruin poor Fred. When I look at him, all I see are piles of Adams, Woolybuggers and a myriad of tiny dry flys filling up my boxes. I'd bet you could tie enough flys from ole Fred worth triple his cost. He is handsome though. Why not get Fred a hen so I could tie some wets and emergers while I'm defiling him? Now I know you've been contemplating parting with dear Fred for a while but folks like me don't appreciate such art but think only of how many thousand flys he'd produce. My mind thinks of how tough he must have been after simmerin a while ... but Lord a mercy, those hackles! BTW, how did you get Dr. Tom to part with such a beauty? Which came first, DonO or the egg? pluckin, duckin & runnin, Murf (obsessive-compulsive hackle plucker)
