FOTW, Nice looking soft hackle

[Jeremy]

So I take it I'll have a lot of participants for the next wet fly swap? Couldn't be better.

REE

Yup....and I'm just a-hoping that my new vice gets to my front door in the interim so I can be included in time. If not, then next time for sure! No sweat.

Agreed, Jeff, that's a fine little fly. I love Starling hackle. The irridescent tinges of color against that shiny black is a favorite.

I've tied this fly with the starling tied in by the butt which gives you some really webby, sort of a dull hackle and I think I prefer to do it as shown here. Plus, if you get a bit creative you can also not snip off that tiny hackle tip and fold it back to simulate a "wing" as in a winged wet if you wish.

Cool looking fly and very productive!

Jeremy.

edit...Ron, ...going out on a limb here. Don't (do not) hold up any swap for me...it might be awhile! And P.S. -Thanks for the yak!

[JeffHamm]

Hi Jeremy,

That's a great idea about folding the tip back to form a wing. Must try that out on a few! Thanks for the idea.

And I bet the more dun coloured hackle will work well, though I'm partial to the dark hackle on this one. I often use the grey butt end for starling and purples; basically anywhere you would use snipe.

- Jeff

[littlebrook]

Jeff,

Did you say Starling and Royal Blue? Did you get permission from the Sweetheart of FAOL, Her Royal Highness Betty Hiner?

A year - or maybe two - ago, in a discussion here of soft hackles Betty mentioned that she tied some with blue bodies. She, or one (or some) of her fans provided photos of North Country spiders with lovely blue bodies. I snitched some blue thread from my wife and tied some. They worked like a champ!!

Yup, you're still in very good company.

Again, thanks for the Water Cricket. I should probably be ashamed that I forgot reading about it, but it was quite awhile ago. Sometimers disease, and all that.

Bill

[JeffHamm]

Hi Littlebrook,

I had an exchange of posts with Betty on her blue spiders a few years ago! She put me on to the blue spiders actually. I call them "Dark Bettys" when tied with the royal blue. When I use a lighter blue, as Betty does, with greyish hackle, I call them "Betty Blues"! They are most definately a good one to have in the box.

- Jeff

[Betty Hiner]

Bill (littlebrook),
Correct me if I'm wrong ... but I think Jeff takes ONE strand from the eight strand packaging of embroidery floss to tie the fly. You can tie about a bazillion flies from one little pack of floss! The resulting bodies are thin, sleek and really kewl!!

Thank you for remembering about the blue fly! It is still my "go to" fly! It will be teamed up this coming year with olive, yellow and orange spiders ala Jeff !!

Thank you, Jeff, for the great fly!

[bassman]

Yes agree with all of you fantastic fly, I have tied up a half dozen of them. Thanks for doing this one for all of us. John

[JohnScott]

Probably isn't necessary to thank Jeff AGAIN for bringing this great fly to us, but I will.

Jeff knows I like to simplify, so I am sure he won't mind my commenting on a slight variation on his tying method, and amplifying on a comment Betty made above.

After tying any number of crickets the way Jeff does, I tried a slightly different method. Start the tying thread, clip off the tag as usual. Tie in the floss strand and tie it down to the shank to the point the body will end. Wrap the floss forward to about 1/16" behind the eye, secure it with a half hitch and trim. Now rib the body with the tying thread. Tie in the starling and finish as shown by Jeff.

I'm not sure, and maybe Jeff will clarify on this point - we may be using a slightly different material ?? I acquired the DMC embroidery material I'm using before Jeff introduced me to the cricket. It is 100% cotton. Jeff's floss looks different than what I am using, and he refers to an 8 strand material whereas mine is 6 strand.

Regardless, the cricket has been a KILLER soft hackle pattern everywhere I've fished it for trout here in SE Idaho, using flies tied by Jeff, using flies tied with Jeff's method, or my own version.

Regarding the cost. The 6 strand DMC embroidery material costs $.31 at JoAnn Fabric for 8.7 yards. It takes about 3" of one strand per fly. The math rolls out like this - 8.7 yards x 3 = 26.1 feet x 6 strands = 156.6 feet x 4 flies per foot = 626 flies @ $.000496 each !!!

Hmmmm - can you spell FREE.

John

[littlebrook]

Betty,

Many thanks for the wake-up call. I remembered many strands of material hanging over the eye of the hook in Jeff's starting photo. Yup, many strands of silk/cotton in a SINGLE strand of floss. All 6/8 strands would provide a HOOOGE and most ungainly body.


Thankd you,

Bill

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

After double checking I realised I can't count! The DMC floss I'm using is, as John points out, six strands, but each of them is a double strand, which unwind to 12 strands! (so, does that make it even free-er? ) When I looked at mine while writing up the report two of the six strands were trimmed down from previous ties and I only counted four, which unwinds to eight as I put in the FOTW.

I forgot that DMC makes a few kinds of floss. John is using the cotton floss. John is also correct in noting that our materials are a bit different. DMC also puts out a Rayon floss, which is a synthetic material (similar to Uni floss), and I use the Rayon. This has a more glossy look to it. The Rayon floss can be unwound down to the single (1/12 of the whole thing) strand and still is strong enough to wind tightly. Given John's success, there's obviously no problems with using the cotton! This stuff comes in a lot of great colours that you don't find in fly shops.

It's interesting that even with such a simple tie, there are different ways to tie it and yet end up with the same result.

- Jeff

[coltranem]

While we are on the topic of this nice soft-hackle. As a beginning tier and flyfisher I would like to know what kind of soft hackles make a nice prospecting fly when nothing else is happening. I started tying a few partridge and yellows last year but I never found a reason to use them this year. I would like to change that next season.