Soft Hackle first attempt

[SteelieD 0]

First try. Comments are appreciated!

 

[oatka 0]

If I was a fish, I'd eat it.....twice!

[Linesides 0]

Very nice fly, well tied.

[Soft-hackle 0]

Hi Steelie,

I think you are off to a good start. Most traditional soft hackles (North Country wet flies) do have long hackles. Yours are a bit too long, I think. Look at other softies. Judge what length their hackles are, and what point they come to on the shank. I generally stroke the fibers of the hackle so they are standing out at a 90 degree angle to the hackle stem. Then I set the stem flat against the hook shank, as you look straight at it, at a 90 degree angle to the shank, near the eye where the hackle will be wrapped. If the hackle fibers reach back to the hook point or barb, the hackle is about right for the hook you are using. Of course, Spiders often have extremely short shanks, so the hackles usually are longer. With standard softies and flymphs, I find the method above helpful. Other than that, the fly looks pretty good. Keep tying. You'll get better with each attemp.

 

My best,

Mark

[stinky 0]

Hey soft hackle could you give a little advice

on fishing wets? A couple techniques possibly. Thanks :headbang:

[Soft-hackle 0]

Stinky,

Here's an article I wrote on the subject. If you have any questions. Please feel free to ask.

 

Mark

 

Wet Fly Article

[stinky 0]

Much appreciated sir.

 

Incredible article. I think I'll be fishing alot more wets in the future.

 

Thanks again.

[madkasel 0]

A very good article indeed!!

 

I have it on my mental checklist to tie up a bunch of soft hackles. I plan to just line up a variety of floss, thread and feathers and be creative with it instead of doing any "standard" patterns. I'm sure I could tie dozens in a night.... probably throw a beadhead on some of 'em.

 

Then get out and fish 'em! Find what works.

 

Again, great article... thanks much.

[ron P. 0]

.

 

 

SteelieD --

 

Looks like . . . one of my attempts! Very nice!

 

A note on the hackle: What material did you use? I often use pheasant tail fibers for my hackles, and one variation I tie uses long hackles as long as the ones you have here. This shape and color will work wonders on the sunfish family, for sure!

 

-- ron P.

 

.

 

 

[VERN-O 0]

Steelie D very nice fly.....it has a caddis sort of look to it....keep up the good work.

 

Mark....excellent article....do you have other articles out there about softs, fly fishing, or tying?

[camoham 0]

looks nice to me. i like 'buggy'

 

nice article as well thanks for the link.

 

camoham

[maddog48 0]

SteelieD .. is that the Red Ass soft hackle? If it is, that's an Arkansas standard and has caught a bunch of fish here. Some guys are tying the fly with peacock ice dub for the body. It makes an "interesting" body when it starts to get shredded.

 

 

Mike

[SteelieD 0]

Thanks all!

 

Soft Hackle - I really appreciate the comments and the link. I have read that before and it is actually one of the reasons I got iterested is SH's. Thanks!

 

Ron P - Hungarian Partridge is the hackle I used. I'd like to try some other hackles, particularly starling. I like the way it looks.

 

maddog48 - Yup, Red Ass SH. I stumbled accross it on another site and really liked the look of it so figured it was good place to start. Ice Peacock tightly dubbed would probably look pretty good too.

 

I'll try some more today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Macsflytying 0]

Nice work!

 

Josh

[Soft-hackle 0]

Hi Vern-O,

I have one other article online. It's not quite as in depth as the other, but still has some info in it. Here it is.

 

Soft-Hackles, Spiders and Flymphs

 

My best,

Mark