cock or Hen hackles?

[fenton]

Please could someone provide some advice regarding when to use a cock hackle and when to use a hen hackle, and their various advantages / disadvantages.

I usually tie shrimp style patterns,
thanks in advance
F

[salmonking]

I have used both but mainly stay with cock hackles,,hen hackles are a bit softer,and i find the stem a bit thicker and more robust for winding on.

[rpsalmon]

Hen hackles have softer fibers and even if you can obtain them in sufficient sizes, have limited uses as compared to cock hackles because their soft fibers will often simply be pushed flat against the body in streamy water. I have an interesting fly that has the hen hackle tied in backwards, it has an interesting kick in the water. (Of course you can tie cock hackles in backwards to get a greater effect, but in either case the underside of a feather is duller). I have seen hen hackles put to interesting effect when tied behind a frodin turbo disc, as obviously these are designed to agitate the soft hackle behind.

cock hackles are more generally used because they are easily obtained in a range of appropriate sizes and have a stiffness that is more practical to the majority of tied flies. cock hackles should shine when held up against the light and while many people will disagree, I find cock hackles with a shine/translucence catch more fish because the subtle shine/translucence is picked up by the fish. When you dress a shrimp fly with shiny hackles and move it change your angle to the fly in the water you will be able to see this shine, in my opinion a fish would often have to be blind to miss this trigger! If you see a cock cape that doesn't have shiny hackles when held up to the light, leave it as it has probably been incorrectly processed.

[billytheghillie]

I go with the old adage- cock hackle for dry flies, hen hackle for wet flies.

[rpsalmon]

But that adage is for trout flies, not salmon flies. Certainly when dressing small salmon/grilse flies with the fibers tied in as a bunch/false hackle rather than wound, there may be no loss of effect if you use hen instead of cock.

[roecaster]

Fishing on the Foyle System, I have been brought up in a surrounding where little else other than shrimp flies are used. We use Chinese cock hackles. These have the sheen Indian cock hackles are known for and the movement of hen hackles, but are not so limp that they simply collapse in fast water, a problem associated with hen hackles.