How many turns of hackle?

[bluegill576 0]

I have now been tying some more dry flies now that I get to do some trout fishing and can't seem to get the perfect amount of turns of hackle so:

 

1. How many turns of hackle on a basic fly such as a royal wulff in front of and begins the wings?

 

2. How many turns on a parachute?

 

3. How many turns of each hackle on a fly that uses two different colored hackle like an Adams.

 

Thanks

[JSzymczyk 0]

as with most things in fly tying, there's no rule that is set in stone. Usually about 2 or 3 wraps behind the wing, and 3 to 5 wraps in front. Even with modern wonderous genetic saddle hackle, it seems to me that it takes a few more wraps with a saddle hackle than it takes with a modern neck hackle. YMMV, but that is what I see comparing Whiting saddle hackle to Whiting bronze neck hackle. With flies using two hackles (brown and griz like in an Adams) you need 1/2 as many turns as with one hackle... Wulffs are generally tied quite full and bushy compared to say, traditional Catskill style dries, so there should be more wraps than might be used in other styles of dries.

[bluegill576 0]

Ok thanks, and then how many turns on the parachute?

[utyer 0]

Patterns like the Wulffs were meant to be good floaters, and what J said will work fine. A turn less both in front and back should be enough on Catskill style dry flies. As for patachutes, I would say 4 or 5 would be enough. A lot more of the hackle on a parachute pattern will be supporting the fly, while less than half of the hackle on a traditional hackle support the fly.

[trouter-chris 0]

I think the answers as noted above are indeed correct, generically speaking. The thing to keep in mind is that each fly no matter what the pattern has the opportunity to be improved upon for each situation. For example an Adams fly fished in low water which moves slowly could afford sparse materials whereas the same fly tied for use in a deep fast moving stream could stand a few more wraps....color variances, wing size, tail size are all open to manipulation depending on the circumstance. Here's a few pics of some flies I have tied and developed to meet my own situation where I fish here in New Brunswick Canada.

 

Little Brown Mayfly

 

Dark Quill

 

Adams

 

One of my Favourites I call the Whiting's Dun....Coq De Leon hen wings, Coq De Leon Cock neck tail, Whiting Dry Fly hackle, sorry Whiting the only material not Whiting is the hand stripped peacock hearl body....oh and the thread is Lagartun's 95 D in Iron Grey

 

Experiment, try out the basic pattern and do your homework on the actual hatch you are trying to imitate, in the stream you are fishing.

 

PS - for any photography buffs wondering, took these with my Pentax KR, 200MM ED lens, f/8, 1/5 sec, ISO 200 no flash just a light at my tying desk, camera fixed on a tripod, with a grey cardstock paper background....I'm just an Amateur trying to find my way....both in fly tying and photography.

 

Tight Lines!

[perchjerker 0]

A very good way to approach the answer to your question is to first determine the type water you will be fishing, as alluded to by trouter-chris. Flies for "flat water", which is characteristic of spring creeks and rivers such as, for example, the Catskill streams, do not require heavy hackle to keep them afloat. However, mountain streams, such as those to be found in the Rockies, and westward, require a lot more hackle to keep them afloat in the roiling, tumbling flow so characteristic of such waters. For ponds and lakes, the so-called "Catskill" style dry fly, with minimal hackle, should work quite well.

 

With that having been said, there are typically 1-2 turns more hackle in front of the wings than behind them.

 

With respect to using two feathers on an Adams, IF you can find a good Cree neck or saddle, you only need one feather, as Cree has all three colors, white, black (grizzly) and brown, to it.

 

Very nice flies, trouter-chris!

[JSzymczyk 0]

re: Cree--- the Whiting "Dark Barred Ginger" necks have some awesome brown/white/black barred feathers, perfect for Adams but the most of the white is a little off-white or VERY light ginger so not true Cree. Close enough, that's for sure.

 

In the new issue of Fly Tyer, there is a pretty good article about tying parachute dries.