As quality Partridge skins have gotten harder to find (and more expensive), consider the Ruffed Grouse as a nice soft hackle alternative. This is the cape (neck) from the Grouse skin, which is where most of the small feathers you want for wrapping soft hackles are located. There’s also plenty of larger feathers useful for tailing or for wrapping collars on larger fly patterns.
As quality Partridge skins have gotten harder to find (and more expensive), consider the Ruffed Grouse as a nice soft hackle alternative. This is the cape (neck) from the Grouse skin, which is where most of the small feathers you want for wrapping soft hackles are located. There’s also plenty of larger feathers useful for tailing or for wrapping collars on larger fly patterns.
