Soft Hackles

[troutmagnet]

ok, well since waterfowl season is over and i decided i need to start tying some flies. I have been tying hares ear and pheasant tails and was wondering if someone could explain how you do soft hackles around a hairs ears? they never come out right and i have watched plenty of videos. I believe i have starting skin, but i will check then. thanks

 

[troutmagnet]

Its actually india hen back

 

[outsider]

There are 3 basic approaches to putting legs on a nymph:

1) winding the hackle onto the front of the fly
2) splaying hackle fibers on each side of the fly
3) Tying the feather on the hook under the wing case at the rear of the wing case and bringing it forward over the thorax dubbing and tying it off

I prefer approaches 2 and 3. The other alternative is the more traditional approach for a hare's ear: pick the dubbing on the thorax to represent legs.

My humble opinion. pm if you want to, will further explain, even if you have to call me.

 

[troutmagnet]

well it no like i want the legs, i just would like a wrap of soft hackle around the fly for movement, if you get what im saying?

 

[jayL]

Post a pic if you can. Would make it easier to tell what went wrong. I can only guess that you are crowding the eye and don't have room to make a good thread head, so the soft hackle gets gnarly. That was my problem when I first got started.

 

[troutmagnet]

well i have room but tying it in and actualy spinning it, the barbs dont go towards the back of the fly?

 

[SBecker]

After every turn wet your fingers and pull the barbs back. Hold them there untill you do the next wrap. Repeat.

 

[outsider]

While i agree with you Sbecker, I still prefer steps 2 and 3 for legs on hares ears nymphs. step 2 for smaller nymphs, step 3 for larger nymphs. And picking guard hares for tiny nymphs.

 

[outsider]

troutmagnet wrote:
well it no like i want the legs, i just would like a wrap of soft hackle around the fly for movement, if you get what im saying?

Any way you shake and bake it, the hackle still represents something :wings, legs, something, or all. What do you want the hackle to represent?

 

[lv2nymph]

Are you tying the feather in so the concave side of the feather faces the bend of the hook? That way the barbs will naturally want to go to the rear of the fly. As your making the head you can gently wrap the thread onto the wound hackle and "help" it bend to the rear as well.

 

[GregH]

The way I understand your question, you want a fly that looks like this.

Agreeing with the others regarding the position of the hackle fibres, and the need for space - my suggestion is to strip the hackle from one side of the stem and wrap 2 wraps only around the hook. I could go into details about whether to attach the feather by the butt or tip, and which side of the feather to strip of hackle, but you'll figure it out in a couple of tries. Since the feather is stripped there should be no problem of fibres facing foreward AND backward, it should be easier to control. And soft hackle flies should be sparse anyway.