Henry Hoffman has spent a lifetime in pursuit of perfecting hackle. One only needs to look at the evolution of rooster hackle to see just how much things have evolved. On a recent visit to a hackle producer’s farm, I was shown some #1 neck hackles from the 60’s that made today’s #4 pro grades look like exceptional stuff. In a very few years, the genetics have been developed to the point where a single neck can tie flies anywhere from a size #32 midge up to size 2/0 streamers. We in part have Hoffman, Darby and other pioneers in the field to thanks for the quality we have today.

This article in the Daily Astorian is a nice piece on Henry’s path and highlights his career.  It’s an interesting article for any tyer.

http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=49003