Soft Hackle proportions - Beginners Corner - Fly Tying For example, a beetle imitation would seem to call for a short-fibered hackle while a fly imittating an ephemeral adult would suggest a rather larger hackle As a working compromise for the average pattern, my advise would be to selecta hackle with a fiber length approximately 1-1 2 to 2 times the length of the body
Issues with hackle - Beginners Corner - Fly Tying I suggest you get some Whiting or Hebert dry fly hackle and give it a try, you will be amazed at the difference that quality hackle makes The Bronze grade Whiting would be a good place to start and if you want saddle hackle you can get it in 1 2 or 1 4 saddles Hebert rooster saddles are another option and are fantastic hackle for very little
Wet Fly Hackle More or Less - Fly Tying Hackle length is a bit subjective Generally speaking, tips of the hackle should fall somewhere between the hook point and bend of the hook Traditionally, hackle length was near the bend of the hook Personally, I go a little longer for my Stillwater wets and a bit shorter for my moving water patterns
Hackle. . . Better than Cree? - The Fly Tying Bench - Fly Tying The original Adams fly called for cree hackle, and it's in demand because it's a natural color that can't be dyed and it only happens about 1% of the time Of those times it happens only a certain percentage will rank highly on the olympic grading scale, and some cree is better than others in regards to deep colors
Hackle Gauge - The Fly Tying Bench - Fly Tying If I'm tying a #12 then I will see that the feather tips are going just over the mark on my hackle gauge This would be one size up If you go all of the way to the next mark, on my gauge that would be two sizes up from the #12, which would be a #10
How important is the exac hackle-color? - Fly Tying As far as hackle goes, here's a good one from John Atherton's 1951 Fly and the Fish book It's his version of a dry Tups Variant Quote: The hackle used for both tail and hackle of this fly as I tie it is a pale dun of a brassy shade with faint markings of grizzly It is a very unusual color and seldom encountered
Hen Hackle for Soft Hackles? - The Fly Tying Bench - Fly Tying For wetflies, nymphs and soft hackles, I tie the hackle in by the tip Then fold the feather either by the scissor folding technique or by simply folding the fibers back as I wrap Two turns is usually enough, maybe three for a heavier hackle
Dun Hackle - The Fly Tying Bench - Fly Tying If your looking to get ONLY dun hackles, then get a light, and rusty dun A rusty dun will have some brown shading in the feathers, and the grey tones are usually medium to dark In other colors, I find the true Cree to be the most versetile Cree hackle should have feathers that are black, white, and a honey ginger mottled
Hackle Keeps Twisting When I Wrap - Beginners Corner - Fly Tying Tying in by the tip, as in the video, is the usual way to do it Its how the hackle is tied in on North Country Spiders, except the hackle is tied in right at the beginning The technique Piker 20 mentioned above is for cock hackles not game bird If you want a real challenge try any of the woodcock hackled spiders and fold the hackle like that