Hackle Gauge for Sizing Soft Hackle Fly Patterns.

[flybugpa]

just a note I have a friend in the UK , who is pretty big into this soft hackle stuff (he will remain nameless, so don't ask) , he even has his own hooks manufactured. he had recently stated to me that,in his opinion, " Syl's and even Ollie's flies were overhackled" . In his opinion there should be one barb for every point on the clock face. so 12 fibers per fly. I Know thats not what you want to hear. I use whatever looks right,and for me thats always 1 to1 1/2 turns of folded hackle. That being said. It seems to me that alot of American tyers wrap alot of hackle that is not needed.More is not better... Remember you just want to suggest movement.

[George Emanuel]

Forget the hackle guage. The tips of the proper size hackle should extend to the back or furthest point on the bend at the vrey rear of the hook. As to density, traditional English flies are much more sparsely hackled than you will find in the typical American Tie. flybugpa, comes closest to the correct hackling in the English tradition. Although soft hackle is not intended to float the fly it may be necsessary to use a denser hackle to allow the fly to drift higher in the water column when fished upstream. A more sparsely hackled fly on the same weight hook will generally fall faster and fish deeper than the more heavily hackled fly of the same size.
British flies have always been somewhat more deicate than American ties. When dubbing for example they refer to "dirtying" the thread with the dubbing. It is not at all unusual to see the tying thread through the dubbing as the dubbing is just that sparse. For this reason if you are contemplating tying "traditional" pflies according to specific patterns, pay careful attention to thread color as well as dubbing, hackle, and of course hook selection.
If you are tying flies for fishing, tie something you like, have fun with it, and take it down to the water for a consultation with the fish. You may just find the next secret fly!
Hope this helps,
George

[Soft-hackle]

Hi All,
To my knowledge, hackle on the soft-hackle is a matter of preference, this goes for length and amount and SET of the hackle. As already said, traditionally tied North Country Flies are tied very sparse. European and English tiers tie them sparsely. American tiers have a tendency to use more hackle, however, some feathers with finer fibers might not look right unless more turns of hackle are applied. Likewise, some feathers only require a turn or so. Originally the North Country fly was dressed so the hackle stood almost perpendicular to the hook shank. Most were fished upstream, in the film. Modern variations are often tied with the hackle slightly swept back, and are fished wet using varying techniques. In my opinion, Mr. Nemes is only giving this information as a guide to help tiers get started.


Woodcock and Orange tied traditionally

Thanks for the guide, Steve

Mark

[eaustin]

The dense hackle on some American wet flies is there for a reason. As was explained to me by the owner of our local fly shop, the flies are at times fished very deeply, and the hackle traps air bubbles, making the fly work as a deep caddis pupa or larva pattern. He swears by this. I think several of us are talking about different things here, different applications. If you're just talking soft hackles, then I could see the larger partridge or other game hackle extending to the bend of the hook, but with winged wets it's more common to just take the hackle to around the point of the hook. Alice Conba's flies exhibit this, as do most American wet flies with the exception of Helen Shaw's. In any case, I've never used a hackle gauge, just measure barb lenth at the fly. Nice to have a ballpark though, even though none of us agrees what it should be.

[Ron Mason]

It would not be an infringement to post it as long as you give credit and the purpose is to inform and educate rather than profit.