We’ve stocked Metz rooster and hen capes and saddles for some time now and love tying with them. Of course, there are plenty of flytyers out there that prefer the other big name in hackle feathers, and I myself have used Whiting Farms hackle feathers for years now. SO, with that said, we thought it was about time that a range of Whiting Farms rooster saddles and neck capes were on offer from the Troutlore store for flytyers around Australia to take advantage of. Whiting Farms Australia needs a greater range of these feathers available for purchase and we want to help out there.

Having used a selection of Whiting saddle and neck feathers in my own flies for years now, I thought it was only fair that I was able to offer the same great feathers to all our customers as well. It’s been a long process, but we are now pleased to announce that the first, very limited shipment, of Whiting Farms and Herbert Miner saddles and capes have arrives and are available for sale int he Troutlore store here in Australia. What’s more, we are spending a good part of the Easter long weekend pouring over order forms and stock lists as we compile the list for the next shipment of Whiting feathers due to arrive here roughly two weeks after writing this.

For those of you looking for consistent barb size in a long feather that will tie plenty of flies, some of the saddles we are getting from Whiting are going to blow your mind. Pictured above is a grizzly variant saddle with a great range of colours from stark black & white grizzly through to an iridescent black feather with a glossy sheen not unlike that found in quality peacock herl. Other variant feathers show rusty and coachman brown feathers mixed in with grizzly hackles. And we are expecting barred ginger colour tones and a wider range of standard grizzly feathers in the next shipment.

For those of you after quality with high feather count, the Bronze Grade Whiting capes and saddles are teh go, and some are available right now in the Whiting Farms section of the Troutlore store. But, there are plenty of other grading options coming with Pro Grade capes and saddles on their way along with Midge saddles for those of you looking for serious long feathers and high feather count in sizes 18 through to 24. These saddles are going to be something really special and won’t last long.

Of course, we will continue to stock Metz capes and saddle too as I am a big fan of their high barb count and slightly different stiffness to the feathers. For those of you looking to buy just one saddle that will last longer than you could imagine, the feather count in our Metz dry fly saddles is outrageous. For the glutens amongst us, like myself, only a combination of Mets and Whiting capes and saddles will suffice.