Picking a Starter's JC Cape

[chriswjx]

Hi folks,

Recently started tying up salmon flies, and thinking about jazzing some of them up with the odd bit of jungle cock. Not making display pieces yet, just after something purely for fishing.

Would I be wasting my money on one of them half capes that I can see on eBay for about £35? Info on selecting a starter cape doesn't seem easy to come by... at least to me

Equally saw this one for about £60 which looks pretty good too (I've been in a very shopaholic mood recently). Not sure I tie enough at the moment to warrant spending extra on a full cape...

Cheers Chris

 

[Woodsy]

Check out irish fly supplies on Facebook, he has a lot of capes in stock from basic to pro grade. I got one for about 50 quid in the summer and it was grand. Splits don't bother me so long as there's not several of them in each feather. Most my shop bought flies have split eyes anyway. Prob didn't when I bought them

 

[chriswjx]

Cheers, yeah wasn't sure how much split is too much? I knew enough that I wasn't going to need immaculate feathers but beyond that

 

[P!scator]

if you want to use jungle cock, worth spending the extra, when you start to improve your fly tying you'll want unsplit nails & end up buying a better cape anyway with the cheap cape languishing the bottom of your fly tying kit

Somers in Abedeen had some good capes last time I was in touch with Colin

 

[speydog]

I’ve bought 3 capes recently from amflytying.com I’d definitely recommend him.

 

[carbisdale caster]

I rarely bother with jungle cock nowadays as most flies don't really need it (I'd personally avoid the one in the pic you posted as it looks like someone's dog's been at it )

 

[westie4566]

I rarely bother with jungle cock nowadays as most flies don't really need it (I'd personally avoid the one in the pic you posted as it looks like someone's dog's been at it )

Is that fae personal experience wi Geordie?

I've seen worse capes going for more money mind!

 

[carbisdale caster]

Is that fae personal experience wi Geordie?

I've seen worse capes going for more money mind!

Apart from a belt when I first got him the little guy has been nae bother on that score thankfully

 

[gwelsher]

The JC market has got ridiculous in the last couple of months with prices doubling in some suppliers.
Like most things in salmon fishing the words good and cheap are mutually exclusive.
The thing to do is bide your time and wait for a decent cape to come up and buy it quick.
Make sure you look at the area in the middle of the cape carefully as that is where the majority of your nails will come from.
Look at Ebay, AM Flytying and other places you can see the actual cape you are buying. Or ring a shop like Somers and explain what you want.
Always make sure you can return it if you are not satisfied.
For £50-60 you should be able to get a decent cape for tying flies without too many splits.
You could also look at synthetic JC. I hate them but they might suit you.
Personally I like JC on some flies like shrimps but would not dream of adding it to others like a Cascade for instance.

 

[Marc LeBlanc]

For fishing flies, I don’t dislike the look of split eyed JC. No advantage to paying top dollar for a perfect Cape if they are going on fishing flies.

While fly tiers and fishermen prefer the look of unsplit JC, in my experience, the fish don’t care one single bit.

Cheers!

Marc

 

[colliedog01]

I got my jc cape from Cookshill Fly Tying and found the quality very good

 

[gwelsher]

Cookshill have stopped doing them. I think the market had got too stupid.