I would say that it's red game with black middle for furnace, and coch-y-bonddu is like furnace but tips will also be black. Kelson mentioned white or silver coch-y-bonddu as well which essentially is a silver badger with black tips.

True coch-y-bonddu capes are really rare, possibly rarer than cree.

Are they more effective than furnace? No idea.

Cheers,
Sebastian

 

You can use a pen to darken the tips of any hackle. Dark brown, very dark green or black. Just stroke the hackle fibres down horizontal on some card and mark the tips. Pens let you experiment without buying capes.

 

This year I had no long black hackles for tying spent mayfly. I usually only do them in white or cream depending on what rooster the feathers came from but I find black gives better contrast in poor light of late evening especially if fishing a drift and there are small bits of white foam on the water.
I used one of my sons black sharpie to stroke through the hackles once tied. I noticed that water would not remove the sharpie colouring much, if at all, but when I was ginking the flies my fingers would be black after.
Not that you would be putting gink on crunchers but worth remembering if using on dries. Tried another type of permanent marker and had the same result.

 

Two capes I've never seen are Coch-y-Bonddu and Blue Andalusian.......

 

Hi all, in my understanding, Furnace is Dark Ginger hackle with pronounced Black List. Cochy-y-Bondhu is shades of Ginger hackle ( dark to honey) with Black List and Tips. Thinking of tying up some Crunchers. Is either hackle more effective in attracting trout or doesn't it matter. Maybe it's a case of ' beauty is in the eye of the beholder '?
On another note: I've found many Cruncher patterns but not sure of the original tying? Would someone post that please? Thanks guys.
PS, I'm tying on Kamasan B401's size 10, tying smaller flies these days is difficult as arthritic fingers are not so dexterous, I guess size 10 is ok for Crunchers? I fish at Brick Farm Lakes.

I`d say it wouldn`t matter that much "if at all" .

I would concentrate on the essentials ie , making it look "Nymph like" . tie the hackle Sparce


Mosely May

 

I`d say it wouldn`t matter that much "if at all" .

I would concentrate on the essentials ie , making it look "Nymph like" . tie the hackle Sparce


Mosely May

Got it! Thanks