Sparseness
Long ago I learned that success in dubbing was achieved by using much less material.
Now I note that the good, popular Scottish tiers have many fewer hackle barbs in their soft hackle flies than we seem to be using.
This appears in a lot of their patterns and not just what they call "spiders".
Is there something we are missing here?
"Never too old to learn"
ray,
i have been sitting here trying to figure out how to really answer your question, and find that without doing a heck of a lot of research i cant.
i do know that if i look thru my information on tying soft hackles, most of my resources say the hackle should be about the length of the hook shank, and sparse. if i compare this information to soft hackles i see in the shops around here, the large percentage of them have hackle that is to long and to dense.
now whether this is a function of more appealing to the fish, or ease in tying the fly, i dont know. i do know that it takes a little more time and effort to get the correct hackle length and density.
i tie all my soft hackles sparse and with a hackle length just slightly longer than the fly body length and do quit well on the fish, would i do better with longer and more dense hackle, i dont know. i like the apperance of the shorter less dense hackled flies. these flies resemble in appearence the flies posted by our scottish freinds.
not sure this realyy answers your question, and its only my opinion.
Earlier this month, I tested out a whole bunch of soft hackle patterns on a particular lake in the Eastern Sierras (along with some other patterns I wanted to try out). Almost all were not tied with the traditional, suggested sparse hackling...The patterns:
http://planettrout.wordpress.com/201...ll-water-done/
The results:
http://planettrout.wordpress.com/201...n-the-sierras/
I have never been convinced that Trout, and sometimes in great numbers, will not take (what would be called) an overly hackled pattern...just too much experience using them in still and moving water...
PT/TB
Daughter to Father, "How many arms do you have, how many fly rods do you need?"
http://planettrout.wordpress.com/
Sylvester Nemes used to make a point about sparse hackle collars as well, but it was never a concept I was satisfied with, so I hackle as I like.
As far as sparseness in bodies, I'm a firm believer in that approach, and most of my nymphs, except for the old attractors like the Prince, are thread bodied nymphs or very tightly dubbed, which work quite well for me, especially when I incorporate a trigger (grin).
What's a trigger???? LOL!!!!
This is really rather strange. It might help if you understand a little of my background. I am from the area where North country spiders are from. At one time most of my fishing was on the River Aire on the same waters that Pritt and Edmonds and Lee fished. Those who have a copy of Fly Fishing in the North Country Tradition will be familiar with the bridge over the Aire at Hanleth. Which is where we parked while fishing. It is the dust jacket photo. Since then I have moved north, almost as far north as is possible without falling off the top. I'm about 65 mile from John o'Groats. So I have spanned the areas of interest in your question, and beyond.
Some people like their spiders sparser than others. Generally one to one and a half turns of hackle is about right. There is a modern fashion for stripping one side of the hackle before winding. I do not know where this comes from, it isn't traditional. What it can do is build up bulk at the head. Given hackles of the same density of fibre to tie two flies with the same hackle barb count. One tied by stripping one side of the hackle will have double the amount of hackle stem as one tied in the traditional method. Also, given the steep taper in barb length, it is more difficult to use barbs of consistent length when one side is stripped. For really sparse flies learn to double the hackle. It takes a very deft touch.
Sparseness also applies to bodies. One of the biggest problems in keeping dubbed bodies of north country flies sparse is the substitution of mole for water rat (vole). Although mole is the same in colour and texture, it is very different in staple length. This means that the halo effect desired in a well dubbed body, which leaves the thread visible is near impossible to achieve with mole. Water rat is now a protected species, so no longer available. The darkest beaver under fur with all the guard hairs removed is a better sub.
Moving north the bodies get reduced in length. Also the patterns change significantly. The Clyde style flies are more often winged than those from further south. The body being only 2/3rds to half the length of their southern cousins. Further north is another style, the Tummel style, which has almost no body at all. Just enough silk is used to hold hackle and wing to hook, often as little as 6 turns. I have been told, by people more knowledgeable in these traditions than I, that the sparseness is directly related to the speed of flow of the rivers. The Tummel, flowing faster than the Clyde, required a sparser fly to achieve the same depth for its drift.
Further north, is where it gets strange. Here, though we use many of the same patterns, the fish want them hugely overdressed. One of our most productive patterns here now gets 3 to four turns of hackle in place of the one to one and a half of the original. Tied this way it catches many more fish here. Why not tie them this way then, the other variations came about by finding what worked better in their waters.
One of the modern trends with these patterns is the use of short shank hooks. I have no idea why this should be. If you look at the old illustrations the hooks are on the longish side. As most of these tiers made their own hooks they would have more control over shank length than we have today, the choice of that shank length I can only presume is deliberate. Using short shank hooks then puzzles me.
Yes many of the traditional flies are sparse, the main thing I would say though is, don't stress over it. Find what works for you. That's what has always gone on. These things may have become enshrined in tradition, but they have always been effective methods of catching fish. The fact that there are variations only serves to prove that they many not transfer to your waters without variation.
Cheers,
A.
Although I'm a great believer in spareness, one thing I've found is that when using game bird hackle like partridge, if you tie it a bit heavier than is most effective, it will become sparse soon enough through just fishing it.
Bob
Alan,Originally Posted by AlanB
May I suggest one possibility for longer shanks on homemade hooks. Although I don't know if this was involved at all or what tools they used to make their own hooks, a long shank would be easier to bend into a hook shank than a shorter one because of the greater leverage. It is simply a guess and I stand ready to be corrected.
Regards,
Ed
Patterns differ. As does regional effectiveness of patterns. The fish will tell you how to tie it.
Ed, I understand the leverage point, however, as these hooks were blind why not simply remove the excess after bending. It would not be the issue it would be with an eyed hook.
Cheers,
A.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote