Soft Hackles

 

Having rashly agreed to do a fly-tying class for my local Trout Unlimited Chapter, it behooves me to talk a little bit about my roughly 40-year-long love affair with simple soft hackle wet flies.  This affair began in 1982during a seasonal gig in Yellowstone National Park, when a co-worker fished rings around me at a lake full of huge fish with a simple little hare’s ear and partridge.

Wets are probably the oldest kinds of artificial flies, dating to Roman times, and they can be incredibly effective.  I usually fish them on the swing, two at a cast, down and across, mending to sink them deeper or to make them swim to the surface. If the fish want them, detecting strikes is not an issue. I also fish them as the dropper in a dry-dropper rig, and they work like a charm.  The patterns are cheap and easy to learn and to tie, and for me, that really matters.  Big fish are often found in dense cover and tight spots where it's easy to lose flies. Losing flies that take a couple minutes to tie and cost a few cents is not painful.

Pennsylvania, where I live, was the home of anangler named Jim Leisenring who played a big role in keeping the ancient art of wet fly fishing alive and in updating the patterns and techniques in the mid-20^th century. There’s a deep, simple and unhurried heritage to them that fits nicely with the cane rods I build and fish, and the patient and contemplative approach I like when I fish.  So I like them, and the fish like them too.

 

 

 

The Patterns

Hare’s Ear and Partridge

Hook: Heavy Wire Wet Fly, 10’s to 18’s

Thread: Black 6/0 Nylon

Rib: Copper wire over a strand of pearly crystal flash (or just copper or brass wire)

Body: Hare’s ear, rough dubbed, lots of guard hairs

Hackle: Hungarian Partridge or Rough Grouse or Mottled Hen, half stripped, 3 or 4 turns.

Note: This is my go-to. If I was only allowed to fish with one fly…

 

Partridge and Orange

Hook: Heavy Wire Wet Fly, 10’s and 12’s

Thread: Orange silk or nylon, 6/0

Rib: Copper wire

Body: Orange thread, with a Hare’s Ear thorax

Hackle: Hungarian Partridge, half stripped, 2 to 4 turns.

Note: I fish these in the fall for the October Caddis. You can use other colors of thread or floss and vary the sizes to imitate a lot of different bugs.

 

Peacock and Grouse

Hook: Heavy Wire Wet Fly, Size 12 and 14

Thread: Black 6/0 Nylon

Rib: None, but see body design below

Body: Herl Rope, 3 or 4 strands of peacock herl twisted with a thread loop and a single strand of crystal flash.

Hackle: English Grouse, half stripped, 3 or 4 turns

Note: This is a deadly Little Black Stonefly imitation, and in smaller sizes it’s a great Grannom fly too.

 

Sulfur Emerger

Hook: Heavy Wire Wet Fly, 14

Thread: Primrose 6/0 Nylon

Rib: Copper wire

Body: Abdomen and tail are Pheasant Tail ribbed with wire, thorax is sulfer muskrat or rabbit

Hackle: Hungarian Partridge, half strip, 3 turns

Note: I swing these during the Sulfur hatch and I also fish them as a dropper behind the dry fly. I sometimes roll the bottom with them behind a couple split shot. You can vary the thorax color and hook size to cover any mayfly hatch.

 

Blue Quill Emerger

Hook: Heavy Wire Wet Fly, 18

Thread: Black 8/0 Nylon

Rib: None

Tail: Dun hen fibers

Body: Dun quill or biot abdomen, grey muskrat thorax

Hackle: Dun hen, full hackle, 2 to 4 wraps.

Note: A great Baetis fly.  I fish these as droppers behind the dry quite a bit, and I also swing them. You can vary the size and color of this design for any mayfly.