Tying In Dry Fly Hackle.jpg
With all the speculation and discussion on the proper ways to prepare, tie-in and wind dry fly hackle, this video attempts to demystify the subject.
Tying in Dry Fly Hackle Techniques
Tying In Dry Fly Hackle.jpg
With all the speculation and discussion on the proper ways to prepare, tie-in and wind dry fly hackle, this video attempts to demystify the subject.
good review
I tie with the shiny side forward due to the natural curve of the feather. This helps keep the hackle from crowding the eye of the hook. I also have just a "Wiff" of dubbing as a "pillow" to assist if the stem of the hackle might be non-cooperative. That tiny bit of dubbing helps "seat" the stem.
A child-like drawing which exaggerates the natural curve, but, on some old hackle, not really that exaggerated.
Last edited by Byron haugh; 03-31-2016 at 06:47 PM.
That's exactly how the curvature of the feather is, and how it wraps on the hook. And it can in some feathers alleviate the problem of trapping fibers at tie-off. The flip-side to that coin, is that dull/dry side forward due to the way the strength of the fibers naturally push things forward, supports the eye of the hook much better. You are simply playing to the natural strength of the feather. Wrapped shiny side forward, when tension is applied and hackle becomes wet, the tendency for the fibers to press back against the body of the fly and lose support is much greater. You won't notice it on a dried, newly tied fly sitting on the bench. But get it wet and apply surface tension from the leader...it happens.
A demonstration of that would be to tie two wingless Light Cahills (random selection). Now, attempt to turn that dry fly into a wet, by wrapping back into the hackle and forcing it back around the body of the fly. You will see it's darn near impossible with a dull side forward hackle and the hackle fibers will fight your wraps. But it is fairly easy with a shiny side forward hackle because the natural tendency is to lean in the weakest direction. Which is where the wet side/dry side representation comes from.
Just food for thought.
But as demonstrated in the video, for most dries, especially smaller flies, the difference is small.
Last edited by NJTroutbum; 03-31-2016 at 09:58 PM.
I have, I think, developed a method of wrapping behind the wings (on a dry) with the dull side forward, and in front of the wings, with the shiny side forward.
Can you picture the footprint of that?
Last edited by Byron haugh; 04-01-2016 at 02:05 AM.
Interesting. Years ago with poorer grade chinese necks, I often used 2 hackles and tied the first shiney forward and the 2nd dull forward.
When I first started tying, all we really had were a big barrel of Chinese necks at the local fly shop to choose from. I think there may have been a few very expensive domestic necks, but we would just rummage through the barrel. It would take AT LEAST two feathers for a dry fly.
Some of those early Metz or Hebert necks look pretty sick these days! Compared to what Whiting produces mow.
Last edited by Byron haugh; 04-01-2016 at 05:59 AM.
It definitely was a far different world not too long ago when it comes to hackle.
For me, it was a long time ago........mid-70's when I started tying.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
