Hackle Question

[rookie]

For those of you who tie, I am curious as to some of your preferences.

When tying in your hackle on wingless wets or spiders, do you strip one side of the hackle or do you fold the hackle? Why? What is the advantage or disadvantage if any?

What is the smallest size you feel you can tie when folding the hackle?

Any responses are very much appreciated. I am finding there are varying opinions concerning these techniques.

[the rod tosser]

it depends on sometimes i strip it,some times i fold it . If I want a full hakle I usaly fold it .

if I want it sparse like on a soft hakle I will strip it and wrap it about three turns. if im wraping marabue i will strip one side . it all depends on how you want the fly to look heavey or sparse with the least amount of bulk . try it on a palmerd fly like a wooly buger and see the difrencees. of folding or striping . and some people have a hard time folding the hackle.

[Jayatwork]

Rod tosser said it. If you want a very sparse hackle strip it, for a fuller hackle fold it.

I don't usually pre-fold hackles but instead use John Shewey's scissor folding technique.

[rookie]

Thanks for the feedback guys. My questions were prompted by finding a variety of methods for pretty much the same fly even those with specific recipes and tying methods.

Some preferred to tie the hackle in by the stem vs. the tip. Some preferred to lay the hackle out over the eye while others layed the hackle over the body. I even found where one tier preferres the concave side of the hackle instead of the convex side.

I found some tiers preferred to strictly work with hackle stripped from one side abd then just added wraps for a more full look or less for a scantly dressed fly.

For some, such as myself, these kind of things become confusing especially when you aren't quite sure what the original pattern calls for.

Thanks again for the feedback

[Jim Slattery]

Hi Rookie,
There are a lot of ways to skin this cat. Here is another method . Simply flair out the hackle fibers so they stand 90 degrees from the stem and wrap the hackle. Use as many turns as you need to get the look you want. 1-3 turns usually will work. This will give you the "umbrella" look. If you want to "collapse the umbrella" just use the meat of your fingers and push the hackle back approaching the hackle from the hook eye. You can get any tilt you want. By leaving the hackle standing tall you allow the current/movement to create motion. The closer the hackle is to the body the less motion you attain.
Also consider tying in your hackle first,by the butt, letting the feather lay in line with the hook over the eye. When you are ready to wrap the hackle , wind it back towards the body and awaiting thread. Secure the hackle with 1-3 turns of thread and then wind the thread thru the hackle, being careful not to trap any hackle fibers, wiggling the thread will help as you wind it.Once you get thru the hackle you should have a bare hook shank left ( or a wrap or two of thread)waiting for you to tie a nice neat head, size of which wiil be of your chosing.
Now if the feather breaks or something else happens, you can always finish wrapping the hackle in a more conventional way.
Using the back wound hackle technique builds a very durable fly. This can be important if for some inexplicable reason the trout refuse all flies but one fly, and you only have 1 or 2 . But that never happens .....

[DShock]

If your tying a Soft Hackle fly, strip one side and put very little hackle on the hook. You may think it looks too sparse, but you want the fly to sink.
When finishing the fly, allow the hackle to stand straight up or slightly angled back.
Doug