Who Ties Adamses with Cree Hackle?

billems · Post by **billems** » 11/15/21 07:30

I tie a lot of adams. I have heard that some tiers (tyers?) use cree instead of the mix of brown and grizzly. I once purchased a small amount of "cree" from the Feather Merchant, and they were more like a ginger variant. If any of you tie with cree to avoid the mixed hackle thing, I'd love to see photos of your capes and flies that illustrate good usage of the feather.

ibookje · Post by **ibookje** » 11/15/21 07:41

Cree is often said to be the ‘instant Adams’ hackle but I disagree. The colors and barring on a Cree, how nice it looks on the cape or saddle, never show up as distinctively as when you use a brown and grizzly hackle mixed together.

Not that this matters for the fish!

If you like it, use it!

Here is a very nice Metz Cree I tied a Grey Fox with:
viewtopic.php?f=73&t=140344

Here I tied an Able Mable using brown and grizzly hackle mixed:
viewtopic.php?f=73&t=139789

creakycane · Post by **creakycane** » 11/15/21 08:06

The hard thing is to find a Cree neck that gives the “buzzy” impression that a crisp grizzly mixed with brown produces. Many Cree are either biased toward grizzly, or barred ginger, so much so that the quality you can get from the 2 feathers ( at its best) is often not achieved.

Perry Palin · Post by **Perry Palin** » 11/15/21 09:30

Thumbs up on what creakycane says. I have "cree" necks that are really barred ginger, and an Adams tied with those would be pretty light. I have a much darker cree that is a good color, but sadly the feathers are softer than I would like.

Similarly I have ginger and browns of many shades, and grizzly from near black to chinchilla. I have to decide what I want the fly to look like, and then match feathers to find it.

It's worth mentioning too that for many necks, and in my experience especially saddles, the back of the feathers is much lighter in color that the front, and that will influence the shade of the finished fly.

Hellmtflies · Post by **Hellmtflies** » 11/15/21 10:19

Cree is all I use for the Adams and have used for years. A good Cree will have the black included in the feather. Too many FF shops sell Ginger Variants or Barred Ginger or the like as Cree. Not good and one needs to be careful when pouring over hackles at the shop. Below is my supply of Cree. Note that all have the black in the feather.
Mark

ibookje · Post by **ibookje** » 11/15/21 10:23

No wonder there's a shortage of Cree's in the shops...

Please post a picture of a cree cape (or saddle) and your Adams used with that cape (or saddle)

Hellmtflies · Post by **Hellmtflies** » 11/15/21 10:49

ibookje wrote: ↑
11/15/21 10:23
No wonder there's a shortage of Cree's in the shops...

Please post a picture of a cree cape (or saddle) and your Adams used with that cape (or saddle)

Don't kid yourself. They are out there. But as I did while working for a FF shop a while back one gets first pick of the stock before it hits the wall. None of the really good stuff ever gets past the counter. And the FF shops that sell the most, say of Whiting, they get the most Cree.

It ain't what you know........

ibookje · Post by **ibookje** » 11/15/21 11:08

It was always the case that shop employees sort out the Cree's before the customers get to see them (if at all). The prices of Cree's on eBay are getting crazy too

twistedtippet · Post by **twistedtippet** » 11/15/21 12:23

ibookje wrote: ↑
11/15/21 10:23
No wonder there's a shortage of Cree's in the shops...

Please post a picture of a cree cape (or saddle) and your Adams used with that cape (or saddle)

No wonder it's so hard to find a good Cree, Mark has them all.
tt

ibookje · Post by **ibookje** » 11/15/21 13:28

Adams tied with brown & grizzly hackle.
Wings are Darbee hen hackle tips

WiFlyFisher · Post by **WiFlyFisher** » 11/15/21 20:31

I agree with what others have said. I have seen large plastic containers full of Cree capes & saddles. As Mark mentioned, those who sell a lot of Whiting can get Cree, but they rarely leave the shop. Also, a "true" Cree cape is rare. I have some Whiting Grizzly variants that have Cree feathers mixed in the cape.

Personally, I would never buy a Cree rooster cape. I have been offered some great deals on Cree capes & saddles and I passed. I don't think the trout care if it is Cree or not.

Jay (ibookje), lovely Adams' dry fly pattern. You need to get to the Catskills.

John

BigDog57 · Post by **BigDog57** » 11/15/21 23:49

ibookje

I second the thought - that is a truly beautiful fly

Post by **DrLogik** » 11/15/21 23:54

I do! The reason? Because I like a very sparse Adams Dry fly. It's a little wisp of a thing and floats properly when tied Catskill style. Is it a true Adams? No, but for me it delivers what I want for the streams I fish, a sparse light, frail looking fly that the wild Brookies just go nuts over....most of the time.

I get my Cree necks from an old Catskill supplier I have used for years (Charlie Collins). His Cree necks are absolutely beautiful. I have a really beautiful Whiting Cree neck but it's not in the league of Charlie Collins' Cree, plus Charlie provides the saddle also.

ibookje · Post by **ibookje** » 11/16/21 04:18

Thanks guys.

On this fly I used Collins capes. The brown cape is very dark brown, almost coachman brown. This makes the colours of the Adams really pop. For the Able Mable I used a medium brown Metz and a light grizzly Hoffman cape. You can see the colours are a bit more subdued.
The Metz Cree hackle collar on the Grey Fox is even softer in shades, barely visible.

BigTJ · Post by **BigTJ** » 11/16/21 08:20

I tend to agree with the sentiment that if a fly isn’t tied with a mix of brown and grizzly it’s not and adams. That being said I’ve tied flies with both and they both work.

I have a few really nice Cree whiting and Metz saddles / capes. I just noticed the $50 price tag on my Whiting silver grade Cree saddle of $50. What are they $120 now? If you can find one? Sure glad I bought my supply in the 90’s.

John

billems · Post by **billems** » 11/16/21 09:19

Hellmtflies wrote: ↑
11/15/21 10:19
Cree is all I use for the Adams and have used for years. A good Cree will have the black included in the feather. Too many FF shops sell Ginger Variants or Barred Ginger or the like as Cree. Not good and one needs to be careful when pouring over hackles at the shop. Below is my supply of Cree. Note that all have the black in the feather.
Mark

Crikey, what a collection. I'm imaging all your other feathers. Perhaps you could offer tips on storage. AND: Do you prefer necks to the newer saddles for dries?

Hellmtflies · Post by **Hellmtflies** » 11/16/21 09:26

billems wrote: ↑
11/16/21 09:19

Hellmtflies wrote: ↑
11/15/21 10:19
Cree is all I use for the Adams and have used for years. A good Cree will have the black included in the feather. Too many FF shops sell Ginger Variants or Barred Ginger or the like as Cree. Not good and one needs to be careful when pouring over hackles at the shop. Below is my supply of Cree. Note that all have the black in the feather.
Mark

Crikey, what a collection. I'm imaging all your other feathers. Perhaps you could offer tips on storage. AND: Do you prefer necks to the newer saddles for dries?

Over the years I have become a huge fan of saddles. No waist. With the capes I usually have a ton of left over large feathers that I end up using for the collars on streamers, buggers etc. That's "OK'. but with a saddle there isn't much waist. That and the size of the hackle stays consistent.
Mark

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