Joe Humphreys 3 Hackle Dry Fly

I was reading Trout Tactics by Joe Humphrey's again. On page 139 there is a photo of what Joe refers to as the three hackle dry fly. Three hackles from a rooster cape. He mentioned the third hackle has the largest amount of hackle fibers removed from the bare stem in order to brace the first two hackles. The verbal description of the procedure is written on pages 140-141

Have you tied a three hackle fly? If so, I'd really love to see the tying sequence if you have the tools and opportunity to make it happen!

The hackling procedure has that "coolness" surrounding it. I love seeing old flies, reading why and how they were developed. Makes me smile. Even in this age of every increasing synthetics, I find myself drifting backwards in time...

Jeff

Well, Ol' Joe has caught boatloads of trout in Pennsylvania, quite a few on its famous spring creeks. When he wrote that book, folks were already starting to abandon full hackled flies on smooth water, in favor of parachures, thorax ties, and the like. I don't know if he still fishes those three hackle jobs but, if he does, that again shows that it's the fisherman more than the pattern that hoodwinks trout. To answer you question: no, haven't tied any, but will for 2013.

Chuck

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Originally Posted by 3fhobbyist

I was reading Trout Tactics by Joe Humphrey's again. On page 139 there is a photo of what Joe refers to as the three hackle dry fly. Three hackles from a rooster cape. He mentioned the third hackle has the largest amount of hackle fibers removed from the bare stem in order to brace the first two hackles. The verbal description of the procedure is written on pages 140-141

Have you tied a three hackle fly? If so, I'd really love to see the tying sequence if you have the tools and opportunity to make it happen!

The hackling procedure has that "coolness" surrounding it. I love seeing old flies, reading why and how they were developed. Makes me smile. Even in this age of every increasing synthetics, I find myself drifting backwards in time...

Jeff

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Trout Tactics was published in 1981 which means it was probably written in late 1979/early 1980. Dry fly hackle is much longer and stem quality has improved. Multiple flies can be tied from a single Whiting saddle hackle. I'm not so sure there is a reason to use 3 separate hackle to tie a catskill style dry fly now.

However, I would be interested in the results of a fly tied with a single Whiting vs a using 3 separate hackles.

Not the requested fly, but here's a Gary LaFontaine version of a 3 hackle fly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MTtTk-HM8M

Regards,
Scott

Thanks for posting that, I was wondering what a 3 hackle fly would look like. Now to show myself a true fly tyer, let me figure out how to tie a parachute version of that.

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Originally Posted by Silver Creek

Trout Tactics was published in 1981 which means it was probably written in late 1979/early 1980. Dry fly hackle is much longer and stem quality has improved. Multiple flies can be tied from a single Whiting saddle hackle. I'm not so sure there is a reason to use 3 separate hackle to tie a catskill style dry fly now.

However, I would be interested in the results of a fly tied with a single Whiting vs a using 3 separate hackles.

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Have you actually read the book and the description of why Joe used three hackles? The third hackle is instrumental in the procedure.

Jeff :)