Hackle Feather Orientation?

[haziz 0]

When wrapping dry fly hackle, do you orient the shiny (convex) or dull (concave) side of the feather towards the hookeye?

[Moshup 0]

Shiny side front most of the time but not all of the time.

[dflanagan 0]

I’ve always tied dries with the dull side of the feather forward. Is that why my dry flies don’t float very long?

[mikechell 0]

Can't vote.  I wouldn't know a dry fly hackle from any other hackle.

[Moshup 0]

3 hours ago, dflanagan said:

I’ve always tied dries with the dull side of the feather forward. Is that why my dry flies don’t float very long?

I was told or I read somewhere that back in the day when genetic hackle was nowhere to be found that many tyers tied their hackle dull side forward because it was believed that it floated the fly better than shiny side being forward. I don’t know if this was actually true or not .

[Mark Knapp 0]

I tie them with the convex side forward (toward the eye) so that the barbels curve slightly toward the bend. In my mind, it's easier to wrap subsequent wraps without trapping barbels from the previous wrap if they curve to the rear.

[redietz 0]

41 minutes ago, Mark Knapp said:

I tie them with the convex side forward (toward the eye) so that the barbels curve slightly toward the bend. In my mind, it's easier to wrap subsequent wraps without trapping barbels from the previous wrap if they curve to the rear.

And it's easier to tie off.

[DFoster 0]

7 hours ago, Mark Knapp said:

I tie them with the convex side forward (toward the eye) so that the barbels curve slightly toward the bend. In my mind, it's easier to wrap subsequent wraps without trapping barbels from the previous wrap if they curve to the rear.

Same here.

[Sandan 0]

I like shiny side out. So does Charlie Craven. Pat Dorsey likes it the other way around.  Who's right? Both

[samsonboi 0]

13 hours ago, Mogup said:

Shiny side front most of the time but not all of the time.

Same. Certain flies for skittering I like the other way around, like bivisibles and spiders.

[TSMcDougald 0]

I was taught to wrap dry flies with the dull side facing forward.

[vicrider 0]

I do like Mark and Redeitz. I don't know about shiny and dull sides but look at the curve of the feather. On dry flies it is convex side forward. On parachutes it is curved side up. On soft hackles it is curved side back and usually tear off hackle on one side.

 

[flytire 0]

Only fly tyers care. Fish not so much 😀

[Mark Knapp 0]

11 hours ago, redietz said:

And it's easier to tie off.

Yep

2 minutes ago, flytire said:

Only fly tyers care. Fish not so much 😀

and Yep

[SilverCreek 0]

Here's the deal.

Hackle fibers have a natural bend. The shiny size is convex and the dull side is concave.

Back when there was no genetic hackle and dry flies were tied with necks from India or China, the dry fly hackle was not very stiff.

If the dry fly was wound with shiny convex side forward the hackle fibers natural bend is back towards the rear of the fly. When the dry fly was cast, the more flexible non genetic hackle fibers would be bent even further back and the hackle would be angled back and the tips angled on the water surface.

So the common practice with to tie the hackle in dull side forward. This resulted in the natural bend of the hackle facing forward. Then when the dry fly was cast, the hackle fibers were forced back which made them more perpendicular to the water surface rather than less perpendicular.