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| Wire body soft hackles |
If you haven't yet discovered the magic of fishing soft hackle patterns, this is the year to start! These flies are easy to tie, durable, incredibly effective, and really really fun to fish. Think big streamer-style hits crossed with the delicacy and technicality of dry fly fishing. Furthermore, they work for almost every mayfly and caddis hatch when tied in the appropriate size and color.
Do you consider yourself a classic fly fisherperson? It doesn't get any more classic than soft hackles. Do consider yourself a new-school, techy, fish anything as long as it catches fish type fisher? Then, you'll love what new materials like wire bodies and cool dubbing materials have brought to the world of soft hackles.
There are many ways to fish a soft hackle. The traditional way is to gently drift the fly down stream and then let the current bring it to the surface at the end of the drift, hopefully in the feeding window of that huge trout you see porpoising. You can grease smaller SH's and fish them as emergers. You can fish them dead drift under an indicator like a regular nymph. You can also fish them as a dropper off the back of a dry fly.
This specific soft hackle is great for the march brown hatch which is upon us here in Western Montana. As nymphs, march browns are great swimmers. This makes the soft hackle the perfect fly for this hatch.
Hook: Size 10-14 nymph hook
Thread: 6/0 dark brown
Body: Small diameter fl. orange and black Ultra Wire (tie these in any color combo you like)
Thorax: Ice Dub golden brown
Wing/legs: 1 partridge feather
Step 1:
Wrap your hook shank nice and evenly with thread.
Step 2:
Advance your thread back to the front of the hook and then, tie in two 6 in. (15 cm.) lengths of wire, one for each color along one side of the hook. Make sure they are tied in nicely and evenly along the shank.
Step 3:
Wrap the wires forward at the same time, making sure that they lay flat and are wrapped tightly together. You can do a better job than me, I had a light and camera in my way.
Step 4:
Cut off the wire tags and apply the Ice Dub to your thread.
Step 5:
Dub a nice thorax ball.
Step 6:
Prepare a partridge feather like you would do for any soft hackle. Pull off the fuzzy fibers near the base, pull back the fibers which will become the wing/legs, and then tie in the tip. Tie in the feather curved down (as shown) so that when wrapped, the feather fibers will curve backwards. Then, cut off the tips.
Step 7:
Wrap your hackle! Sparse is good.
Step 8:
Tie off the hackle, build a small thread head, and whip finish. Your done!
Next month I promise a dry fly. I know I've been a little wet so far. I just love the soft hackles and wanted to spread the word. Turns out, I'm not the only one. Anyone see the article "North Country Spiders - Classic Soft Hackles" by Dave Whitlock which was in the latest issue of
TU's Trout Magazine (spring 2015)? It's a must read!
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| Missoula rainbow trout eats the Wire Body Soft Hackle |
