Dub,
Nice flies; ostrich thorax on this one?
Regards,
Scott
Yes, and as a dropper off of drys, and as emergers in the film. Very versatile style of fly.
Yes. This past Spring it didnt matter how my Soft Hackles were dressed as long as they had Tan Ostritch. For about a month, thats what the fish were keying on.
Going to divert some tan ostrich from the scud/Ray Charles assembly line to the softhackles.
#12 Professer or Grizzly King!
One of the flies Dub showed reminded me of this one I did a few years ago. Not really a soft hackle but…
Hi,
I really like soft hackles. I’m a big fan of older patterns, tying up many from Pritt and Edmond and Lee’s lists, and also Stewart’s patterns. I’ve found a few books that list old collection of spiders and often tie a few up with the materials I have at hand, making substitutes for the feathers we can no longer use (like Owl, etc).
Here are three that I fish a fair amount with success. The first, the Waterhen Bloa, was responsible for my one and only UK trout. I’ve also taken a few NZ fish with it, and I think I brought to hand some trout in Nova Scotia with it as well.
The next one, Pritt’s Water Cricket, is the first pattern of Pritt’s list. He doesn’t say that these are in order of his preference, but they are not listed alphabetically, nor do they seem to be listed by season. So I took this to mean it was a favorite of his. However, he describes the casts he makes up, and this fly isn’t included on either? Anyway, this is one of my go to flies and I’ve taken a lot of fish in New Zealand with it.
Finally, this pattern I call a Dark Betty. There’s a lighter version (lighter blue, and a snipe’s feather) which I call a Betty Blue, because it was our own Betty Hiner of the Board who introduced me to the Snipe and Blue (Betty Blue). I didn’t have the appropriate materials and tied up a Royal Blue and Black (starling is what I use now; not sure what I used in this old photo though) pattern. This has also produced a large number of fish for me, possibly being taken for a blue bottle. Regardless, I always like to have some of these with me.
Ah, here’s the “Betty Blue” for comparison, although the feather isn’t a snipe feather but something I used as a substitute at the time:
- Jeff
Very strange feathers on the left hand one - what are they?
Chukar (sp?), or sold here in NZ as French Partridge.
- Jeff
A little something using starling for the Baetis hatch…
TUNG READY BAETIS NYMPH…Scott Smith/ Variant…#18-#22
PT/TB 
Okay guys and gals, I really love the flies posted here but I have a specific question about them. Do any of you know if there is any difference between the biot rib and the wire rib when catching fish? I mean… actually do you notice a difference between the two? Does one of them catch more fish than the other? It seems that the wire rib would last longer… but maybe not?
Any takers?
I don’t know…I have had the flies hit a lot, but never mutilated like other flies. Biot just looks kewl!
I like the looks of Biot too! A little harder to learn to tie, but once you get the hang of it it’s no big deal…
2 keys to tying with biots for me:
- Get it wet before you tie it in; much easier to wrap (lots of folks keep them in a damp paper towel or cloth on the bench)
- learn which way to orient the biot to get the rib up (or down if that’s the effect you’re looking for); the way I tie them in, the notch at the end where you pull it off the quill is down if I want the rib to show, and up if I want a smooth body.
That’s about all there is to it.
Regards,
Scott
Hmmm… Never heard of the wetting thing before~~~ gonna have to try that!
Thanks Scott!
Herefishy, not sure if you are talking about the two that I posted (Tig) but the one on the left (yellow) is made from a pheasant feather.
clenske, Very nice pattern. Do you put any weight on it?
PaulY,
Nope, no weight. I usually fish it suspended under a dry fly, or trailing a heavier nymph if I want to go deeper.
Some great flies have been posted. I’ve really enjoyed seeing what other use, and reading what they have to say about soft hackles.
CJ