It was about 1 1/2" in diameter. I am sure you could cast smaller fly, whether you could get many hook ups or have to settle for just enjoying the show of the brookies attacking it is something you'd have to just try out. It would be a hoot, though!
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It was about 1 1/2" in diameter. I am sure you could cast smaller fly, whether you could get many hook ups or have to settle for just enjoying the show of the brookies attacking it is something you'd have to just try out. It would be a hoot, though!
Due to my refusal to use eyeglasses that I surely need, I pretty much always fish with a size 12 (maybe a 14 on rare occasions). I do always fish barbless flies. One concern I always have in the back of my mind it to do whatever possible to avoid fish mortality. I catch my fair share, and want to make sure they can survive the dance.
I was wondering regarding the use of smaller flies, is it pretty easy to extract the smaller flies? I have no idea or guess as to whether they would be easier or harder, and was curious as to what y'all thought.
I usually cheat and use barbless or de-barbed hooks. That makes them much easier to unhook. The hook remover made by (I think) Orvis is quite nice. I have had it easily remove flies that have completely disappeared down the gullet of a bluegill.
Ed
Ed,
Thanks, I was just curious.
Maybe this should be posted as a "Fly tying" thread but how do you tie a forward facing hackle? Where do you tie it off?
How do you tie a hackle facing forward? Where do you tie it off?
I can only tell you how I do it.
1. Wrap the head.
2. Tie in and wrap hackle, stroking it forward between wraps, each wrap behind the previous one.
3. Tie off hackle.
4. Dub thorax if desired.
5. Wrap body.
6. Whip finish at hook bend.
OK...a couple of points I'd like to address:
1. Why would one think "regular soft hackles" get stuck/lay against the body of the fly when they're fishing with them? Can you watch them when fishing them? Have you seen a video of actual fishing footage of a soft hackle fly in action? ;)
The posterior-flared soft hackle collar only contracts when the fly moves in the direction of the eye - against resistance created by the presence of water. Thus, when you pick your fly up out of the water, the hackles will lay down from the weight of water, friction, and gravity taking their toll. In water, objects have a tendency to become far more buoyant. This is especially true of fibrous materials like feathers. Suspended on a dead drift, a soft hackle collar undulates...regardless of whether it is oriented to the hook shank or eye.
The advantage goes to the anterior-oriented soft hackle collar when you are employing lifting techniques to give the fly a rising motion to imitate emerging insects. Nothing more - nothing less. There's so much BS floating around the US about Tenkara that it's comical to those of who actually lived and fished in Japan for years.
2. You tie an aterior-oriented soft hackle collar the same way you do a posterior-oriented one, except that you put your tightening wraps behind the collar instead of between the collar and eye of the hook. Stroke the barbules forward gently a time or two with 3-4 fingertips to assist when you start. Then whip finish behind the hackle collar. It's no big deal.
Flyguy66, I don't really have a dog in this hunt as I don't have any Tenkara gear and I have no emotional involvement in this thread. I have watched my soft hackles in very clear water, as I try to do with all my sub-surface flies. When fishing a traditional soft hackle back upstream, they do tend to lose most hackle movement due to the hackle appearing to be more or less plastered to the body. As I understand thnigs, they weren't really meant to be fished that way but rather fished downstream. I'll let one of our more experienced and more expert anglers comment as to that point. I have not had much luck fishing soft hackles against the current. I have had much greater luck fishing upstream with a soft hackle-style fly tied with one or two wraps of dry fly hackle. Those hackles seem to be stiff enough to stand up to the currents where I have fished and move enough water to attract a few fish. Like I said, I don't have time to add Tenkara fishing to what I do because I get out seldom enough as it is.
Regards,
Ed
Edit: I realized that the way that I posted this reads the exact opposite of my intent. I should have said that retrieving soft hackles upstream seemed to kill all of the movement. I feel that soft hackles should be cast upstream and fished on a drag-free dead drift. My apologies for any confusion.