Soft Hackles

[falcon]

Brahma Hen doesn't wrap as nice as Partridge which is my favorite but it works well and it is easier to use on small flies like #20. Small soft hackles from 18 to 20 are the most effective on the water I fish. I also have been using more and more Starling.

 

[shakey]

Another good feather is California quail.
They have a nice grayish color.

I tye soft hackles with anything I get my hands on .

If you hunt , dove has a nice creamy soft hackle .
You have to harvest them yourself, from what I understand. I don’t think the feathers can be sold , or even given.

A favorite thing of mine is to fish three SHs at once.
Say, partridge and green up top, a partridge and yellow or orange in the middle, and a peacock and any hackle on the end.

Have fun everyone!

 

[dc410]

I usually fish a 3 fly soft hackle rig as well. I never really fished them much in the winter but after reading this thread I’m definitely going to give them a shot - maybe tomorrow!

My favorite combination on a 3 fly rig in the Spring during Sulphur time is a sulphur S.H. on the top, a Pheasant Tail S.H. (with an orange thorax) in the middle and a Breadcrust on the point. I catch fish on all three patterns consistently, but the Breadcrust fly on the point really hunts. Catching doubles is not uncommon.

Another favorite feather of mine for dark hackled soft hackles are the covert feathers off of a crow wing. I use crow feathers as a soft hackle on one of my most productive carp patterns as well. They have great movement and the carp just suck them up.

 

[Mrangler]

What is your favorite soft hackle wet fly rod?

 

[falcon]

Scott GS904

 

[Mrangler]

The Scott Gs904 is an awesome rod. This makes sense to me. So a more medium action rod is more desirable?

 

[redietz]

I usually fish a 3 fly soft hackle rig as well. I never really fished them much in the winter but after reading this thread I’m definitely going to give them a shot - maybe tomorrow!

Since several people have mentioned three flies, and since some people on this forum also fish in Maryland, I'll repeat my standard PSA: fishing more than two flies is illegal in Maryland. A stupid rule, but rule nevertheless.

the Breadcrust fly on the point really hunts.

The Breadcrust is a great fly, but all things being equal, the point fly will always out fish the droppers.

 

[falcon]

The Scott Gs904 is an awesome rod. This makes sense to me. So a more medium action rod is more desirable?

A med action rod seems better at protecting the tippet. A faster action rod can be used if you employ a slip strike. It is generally is not a issue fishing them upstream but the fish do to hit them hard on the swing and especially at the end. I got the GS at a good price but the tip seems heavy. A more affordable option would be the Douglas Upstream which may be a better rod. I am sure there are other options as well.

 

[Bruno]

North Country Spiders

 

[shakey]

What is your favorite soft hackle wet fly rod?

Any bamboo or fiberglass,slow rod from 4-6 weight , some people like long for mending , but I find 7.5’to 9’ to be fine .

 

[shakey]

Sylvester Nemes felt as though a dry fly rod was fine.

 

[Tigereye]

Grouse wings you are on your own. But starlings could be had for literally a hand full of crumbs and a BB or Pellet gun. They are an invasive species ( here we go, i know) but shooting them in your yard is rather ez. (PAGC has no closed season and no limit.)

Starling and herl (peacock) and starling and purple are great early season droppers when nymphing.

Leisenring and Hidy both spoke highly of them

 

[phiendWMD]

So I've been working on these. I haven't fished one yet. I've never fished a SH. But I was interested enough to try tying a couple. What ya think?

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

What time of year do you tend to fish soft hackle wet flies? Spring seems like the obvious time because, frankly, every manner of fishing seems to work well in the spring. But what about winter? Has anyone had success fishing soft hackles during the winter months?

I fish soft hackles right through to October, but not in the winter (after first hard frost. They imitate emerging insects, and you don't have that many after the frost except BWO's and midges, and dries are good enough in those situations most times. After a rain and higher water, I'd go to streamers. I switched from dries almost exclusively to weighted soft hackles. Catch more and bigger fish. Fished dries a lot of years, got that thrill, but moved on. Some might say I regressed, but I don't think so.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

I've never really dove into fishing wets before. What leader setup do you use for them? How quickly/how far do they sink in the water column? I want to give them a try on some caddis hatches this spring.

I weight them and use what would be described as a pile cast. Let them sink and then let the current lift them up. Most time the fish intercept at the lift. I saw a film by Ozzie Osenvich (I know I am butchering the last name) and his videography of the emergence of flies from the cobble at the bottom of the stream bed demonstrated the shucking if the nymphal shell happens almost immediately. I want my flies to look like the are coming up from the cobble. The current will eventually lift them to the surface if there is no intercept.

 

[JerryC]

So I've been working on these. I haven't fished one yet. I've never fished a SH. But I was interested enough to try tying a couple. What ya think?

Look good. That's pretty much how I tie all my trout soft hackles. They work well for me.

 

[dc410]

I like to use Maxima Chameleon for the butt section (18” of 25 lb and 18” of 20 lb) on my wet fly leaders. Chameleon has a decent amount of stretch in it so it serves as a sort of built in shock absorber for the whole leader. The takes on a swinging or straight downstream wet fly can be very aggressive and when you are tight between rod tip and the point fly I feel using Maxima Chameleon for the butt section helps cushion the blow when the fish attacks the ascending wet fly and immediately turns back downstream with it.

 

[Fish Sticks]

My unweighteds for drop shot

 

[bdhoover77]

Does anyone have recommendations on where to find soft hackle? It seems to be difficult right now to find much of anything in terms of feathers.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

Does anyone have recommendations on where to find soft hackle? It seems to be difficult right now to find much of anything in terms of feathers.

Depends on what you are looking for…

However, I just got a message yesterday from a guy, Nick Boehme, from Logan, Utah that he still he still had about 50 Hungarian partridge pelts to sell. You can find him on Facebook. I just bought 2 of them from him a couple weeks ago for round $45 each, and these are nice, prime skins.

Another source for hackle of all kinds is Jim Slattery. He probably has the largest selection in the country, and he‘s been selling some fine looking hen necks that you can use to tie soft hackles on his Facebook group, Fly Tying Hackle, in his famous “Hackle Blitzes” the past day or 2. He sells a ton of hackle in those blitzes on Facebook, and he runs a shop in West Yellowstone called Jim’s Fly Company, and just opened another place in Idaho Falls.