Hackle side??

[trevinski 0]

So I've been doing some reading and they usually say to tie with the dull side forward on the feather. These books seemed to be older and I know the quality of hackle is different since than. I'm mostly tying catskill style dries or adams. Does this really matter now days with how far along hackle has come? Also does it matter which side of the feather faces down on a parachute dry? Thank you guys.

[Western Trout Hunter 0]

I really don't think it matters that much when using modern genetic hackles. I still prefer to tie in hackle traditionally, i'm not sure why. Tying hackle to a parachute post I like the hackle to be concave up, it's just easier to tie it off around the post without trapping fibers.

[flytire 0]

i tie the hackle with the shiny side forward on hackled dry flies

 

shiny side down on parachutes

 

but thats just my personal preference

[SilverCreek 0]

So I've been doing some reading and they usually say to tie with the dull side forward on the feather. These books seemed to be older and I know the quality of hackle is different since than. I'm mostly tying catskill style dries or adams. Does this really matter now days with how far along hackle has come? Also does it matter which side of the feather faces down on a parachute dry? Thank you guys.

 

Before genetic hackle, the fibers were not as stiff. So when the fly was cast, wind resistance would bend the fibers back towards the tail of the fly. By tying the hackle so the dull (concave) side is forward, the hackle would be more vertical as they were bent back.

Genetic hackle has less cupping of the dry fly hackle but there is still some concavity and convexity. Saddle hackle has more than neck hackle. I still tie the hackle concave forward but for palmered hackle, it probably does not matter because the hackle tips support the fly. Not so with parachute flies.

For parachutes, the direction of the fibers determines how low in the the surface film, the fly body will sit. I tie my hackle so the concave side is UP which causes the fly body to sit lower in the surface film. If you tie with the hackle fibers concave down, the fly body will be suspended higher in the film.

Most fly fishers consider the parachute to be a dry fly, imitating the subimago or adult mayfly dun. However, the supporting hackle of a parachute is ABOVE the plane of the fly body and so the fly body is IN and NOT ON the film. The position of an emerger body is IN and NOT ON the film. The parachute is an emerger and NOT a dry fly. That is why the parachute is more effective than the traditional dry flies tied with palmered hackle.

Gary Borger has published a book called Fishing the Film in which he discusses the 5 stages of emergence and the patterns that imitate them. He places the parachute adams in stage 3 and the comparadun in stage 4. The Quigley Emerger and the Klinkhammer would be stage 2 flies. These "stages" are an attempt to describe what is a continuum of emergence as the insects transforms itself from a under water nymph to an above water insect. The lower the fly rides in and under the film, the earlier the transitional form of the emerger. So I tie my parachutes so they ride lower in the film, imitating a fly that is less able to escape.

Note that the fly in the first photo has the hackle tied off on the post so it will sink under the film. This is how I tie off the my parachute hackles because I want a lower body position.

Ask yourself, how would these flies position themselves?

Concave Down

Concave Up

[trevinski 0]

Great information!!! Thank you guys for the input.