Pictured above is the soft hackle creation I used yesterday. The trout couldn't seem to leave this pattern alone. Ninety percent of the time, when tying soft hackles I use partridge, but with this particular fly I used something else for the hackle and for the life of me can't remember what. I call it the soft hackle brown because the body is brown, but the hackle is more of a brown/olive grizzly. It was tied two years ago and sit on the tying desk until this Thursday. For some reason I picked it up Thursday morning and took it with me. Glad I did because the trout were on it like stink on you know what.
One interesting note about this fly is the body was antron, and a sparse amount of antron had come unraveled back by the bend of the hook. This unraveling created the most perfect tapered tailing and I want to believe this was a great attraction to the fish.
Although partridge is the preferred material, and makes some beautiful soft hackles, sometimes I use other feathers and try and make the soft hackle fly as ugly as I can just to see if they'll fish. Usually they do.
Below is an example of a very long fibre ugly soft hackle with brown body and olive chinchilla saddle feather. It's ugly, but I'll bet it will fish. When looking at these ugly soft hackles I am reminded of another pattern I hear little about on Blue river and it's one that I would bet money will produce. I'm talking about the Bird's Nest.
Long Fibre Olive Chinchilla Soft Hackle
You will need:
A size 12 streamer or size 10 wet nymph hook.
One interesting note about this fly is the body was antron, and a sparse amount of antron had come unraveled back by the bend of the hook. This unraveling created the most perfect tapered tailing and I want to believe this was a great attraction to the fish.
Although partridge is the preferred material, and makes some beautiful soft hackles, sometimes I use other feathers and try and make the soft hackle fly as ugly as I can just to see if they'll fish. Usually they do.
Below is an example of a very long fibre ugly soft hackle with brown body and olive chinchilla saddle feather. It's ugly, but I'll bet it will fish. When looking at these ugly soft hackles I am reminded of another pattern I hear little about on Blue river and it's one that I would bet money will produce. I'm talking about the Bird's Nest.
Long Fibre Olive Chinchilla Soft Hackle
You will need:
A size 12 streamer or size 10 wet nymph hook.
1/8 gold beadhead
Brown/Olive 6/0 thread
Medium brown antron
Feather from olive chinchilla saddle
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| After affixing beadhead on hook, dub a tapered body up to the beadhead. |
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| Using a dubbing needle, pick out a few strands of antron to form a tailing. |
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| Strip the aftershaft off of a chinchilla saddle feather. |
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| Trim the stem and trim five or six fibres from each side to aid in tying on hook. |
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| As you wind the feather, fold fibres back toward bend with each turn. Then when finishing tie force thread back two or three turns to make fibres lay more parallel to hook shank. |
1 comment:
A few years back the bead head soft hackle fished amazing on the Blue! Then it turned off! Happy to hear it may be back! They are fun to fish, at LMF you can throw up to a fall stripping it back like a bugger with great success.
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