Partridge and Orange
Fly of the Month 11.11 Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle
This “fly of the month” represents the latest in the Tim Wilhelm/Tom Adams series.
Soft Hackles? Flies similar to today’s soft hackled flies were first mentioned in Dame Juliana Berners' 1496 Treatise of Fishing with an Angle. Likely their history extends even farther back than that, but it wasn't until Sylvester Nemes' 1975 The Soft-Hackled Fly that they began to receive the attention they deserve in the United States, and became known in general as "soft-hackle" flies. I think the first time I became aware of and fished a Soft Hackle fly was when Theo Copeland told me tie two on and fish them on the Watauga in the riffle just upstream of Siam Bridge. His instructions were to cast the flies at about a 45 degree angle downstream and then let them drag across the current to where they were directly downstream. Then you could do a couple things the first of which was to slowly raise the rod tip causing the flies to look like they were hatching. This often brought a sharp tap at the other end and the pull of a fish. If you didn’t pick one up right away you could jiggle the rod to impart a little action to the fly or drop the rod a little and play out a little line before repeating the process. While Theo may have taught me the technique, my favorite experience fishing soft hackles was on the White River.
In 2001, I traveled to Mountain Home Arkansas for the first time to attend the Southern Rodmaker’s Gathering. There I met Denis Dunderdale who is now retired and guides on the White. Denis took me and another bamboo rodmaker to Redbud Shoals for an afternoon of fishing. The water was down so we were able to wade out into the current where we caught fish after fish on soft hackles. I think the human brain has the capacity to remember everything we do, but if it doesn’t fishing soft hackles that day at Redbud is one memory that will stay with me.
I have been back several times to the gathering but for various reasons I haven’t been able to fish soft hackles at Redbud. In fact the last trip was in 2008 and because of severe rainstorms in the spring; Bull Shoals dam was releasing so much water still in October that water levels on the White were 8 to 10 foot higher than normal. We drifted through the shoals dragging nymphs that year but there were no wading and no soft hackles anywhere on the river. This year, conditions were as near perfect as they could be and once again Denis took me to Redbud. The dam had been turning 2 or 3 generators that morning but the water hadn’t reached Redbud yet and it was still wadeable when we got there. We got out of the boat and I waded out into the middle of the current (dang those rocks are slippery). There I tied on two Soft Hackles and cast them downstream. Tap, tap, tap I missed the first one and to be honest the second one too, but then I got in the groove and brought several nice rainbows to hand. Unfortunately after 30 minutes of fishing I noticed that the rock next to me had disappeared below the surface of the water. The water was coming up and it was time to get back in the boat.
I may have to wait another 10 years before I can toss soft hackles at Redbud again, but it is worth the wait.
Fly of the Month 11.11 Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle
Hook: Tiemco 200 R, 2487, 3761 or equivalent, Size: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26
Thread: 8/0 Uni or equivalent to match, Size 20 orsmaller - Griffiths 14/0
Abdomen: Pearsall silk, tying thread, quills, biots, dubbing
Thorax: Dubbing
Hackle: Partridge, Starling, Jackaw, Snipe, Quail, Hen Hackle
Note: The various specs above should reflect the many manners in which to tie a good soft hackle. The directions below are for a BWO or Olive Soft Hackle.
Directions:
1) Begin two or three eyelengths back from the eye and wrap, touching thread wraps to bend at the point above the hook barb. Let the bobbin hang.
2) Select one goose biot by pulling from the stem. This will leave a tag end that is useful in holding with fingers or hackle pliers. Observe the biot and you will notice a convex and concave manner. Either one will do, I prefer the concave to be the top of the wrap. This leaves a slightly raised ridge on the leading edge of the biot as it is wrapped.
3) Tie in the biot by the tip. Three wraps at the tie in are sufficient. Wrap the thread forward trapping any remaining biot flat to the hook shank. At the thorax let the bobbin hang. If there is any remaining biot trim it. When I am wrapping the biot I start the first three or wraps with my fingers for control. It seems easier. Switch to hackle pliers for the remaining wraps, overlapping slightly up to the thorax and tie in with three or four wraps of thread. Cut away any remaining biot and let the bobbin hang.
4) Wax the thread. From your dubbing source pull several (not many) long strands of dubbing. If you pull gently, stretching the fibers as you pull the dubbing will go on very finely to the thread. Spin very tightly, about eight times the hook gape for the first wrap. Wrap the thorax with the dubbing. I usually make a sort of figure eight with the dub making a small and tight ball of dub. If necessary repeat the process. Let the bobbin hang.
5) Select the hackle. I prefer Hungarian Partridge dyed olive for this fly. Use the feathers closest to the head for this pattern. Prepare the feather by stripping the downy feathers exposing the shaft. Using tweezers grab the very center of the point of the feather and draw back the other fibers away from the tip. You will size the length of the barbs at this point. In other words look at the length of the barbs and decide where on the feather the right length appears in sufficient quantity to make two wraps. Tying in with the very tip brushed in the opposite direction of the fibers to be wound will leave a space which gives a clear area for the tie in.
6) Tie in the hackle at the front of the thorax by the tip, with the curve of the feather fibers toward the hook bend. Make two or three firm wraps to bind the hackle (it is easy to pull the hackle off the hook as you start winding it on – if you do, no worry, just repeat the tie in with the same hackle even after trimming the tip). Trim the tip and make two or three wraps toward the eye, let the bobbin hang. The hackle should be at the thorax dub. One last note – before tying in some tiers will trim away some of the feather barbs on the opposite side of the tie in. This will help in preventing the hackle from bunching as it is wrapped. You can do this in advance or in place. Trim only enough for one wrap.
7) Using hackle pliers wrap the hackle for no more than two turns, keeping the turns close to one another and advancing toward the eye. When wrapping make sure to not twist the hackle as you wrap. You can also brush back the fibers as you wrap to prevent unwanted entrapment of fibers. Secure with two or three wraps and trim the waste hackle.
8) Form a thread head, whip finish and add head cement.
There are many, many Soft Hackle fly patterns including Olive Soft Hackle, Brown Soft Hackle and Partridge, Orange and Peacock Soft Hackle and Green Soft Hackle.
- Tom Adams, Tim Wilhelm
This “fly of the month” represents the latest in the Tim Wilhelm/Tom Adams series.
Soft Hackles? Flies similar to today’s soft hackled flies were first mentioned in Dame Juliana Berners' 1496 Treatise of Fishing with an Angle. Likely their history extends even farther back than that, but it wasn't until Sylvester Nemes' 1975 The Soft-Hackled Fly that they began to receive the attention they deserve in the United States, and became known in general as "soft-hackle" flies. I think the first time I became aware of and fished a Soft Hackle fly was when Theo Copeland told me tie two on and fish them on the Watauga in the riffle just upstream of Siam Bridge. His instructions were to cast the flies at about a 45 degree angle downstream and then let them drag across the current to where they were directly downstream. Then you could do a couple things the first of which was to slowly raise the rod tip causing the flies to look like they were hatching. This often brought a sharp tap at the other end and the pull of a fish. If you didn’t pick one up right away you could jiggle the rod to impart a little action to the fly or drop the rod a little and play out a little line before repeating the process. While Theo may have taught me the technique, my favorite experience fishing soft hackles was on the White River.
In 2001, I traveled to Mountain Home Arkansas for the first time to attend the Southern Rodmaker’s Gathering. There I met Denis Dunderdale who is now retired and guides on the White. Denis took me and another bamboo rodmaker to Redbud Shoals for an afternoon of fishing. The water was down so we were able to wade out into the current where we caught fish after fish on soft hackles. I think the human brain has the capacity to remember everything we do, but if it doesn’t fishing soft hackles that day at Redbud is one memory that will stay with me.
I have been back several times to the gathering but for various reasons I haven’t been able to fish soft hackles at Redbud. In fact the last trip was in 2008 and because of severe rainstorms in the spring; Bull Shoals dam was releasing so much water still in October that water levels on the White were 8 to 10 foot higher than normal. We drifted through the shoals dragging nymphs that year but there were no wading and no soft hackles anywhere on the river. This year, conditions were as near perfect as they could be and once again Denis took me to Redbud. The dam had been turning 2 or 3 generators that morning but the water hadn’t reached Redbud yet and it was still wadeable when we got there. We got out of the boat and I waded out into the middle of the current (dang those rocks are slippery). There I tied on two Soft Hackles and cast them downstream. Tap, tap, tap I missed the first one and to be honest the second one too, but then I got in the groove and brought several nice rainbows to hand. Unfortunately after 30 minutes of fishing I noticed that the rock next to me had disappeared below the surface of the water. The water was coming up and it was time to get back in the boat.
I may have to wait another 10 years before I can toss soft hackles at Redbud again, but it is worth the wait.
Fly of the Month 11.11 Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle
Hook: Tiemco 200 R, 2487, 3761 or equivalent, Size: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26
Thread: 8/0 Uni or equivalent to match, Size 20 orsmaller - Griffiths 14/0
Abdomen: Pearsall silk, tying thread, quills, biots, dubbing
Thorax: Dubbing
Hackle: Partridge, Starling, Jackaw, Snipe, Quail, Hen Hackle
Note: The various specs above should reflect the many manners in which to tie a good soft hackle. The directions below are for a BWO or Olive Soft Hackle.
Directions:
1) Begin two or three eyelengths back from the eye and wrap, touching thread wraps to bend at the point above the hook barb. Let the bobbin hang.
2) Select one goose biot by pulling from the stem. This will leave a tag end that is useful in holding with fingers or hackle pliers. Observe the biot and you will notice a convex and concave manner. Either one will do, I prefer the concave to be the top of the wrap. This leaves a slightly raised ridge on the leading edge of the biot as it is wrapped.
3) Tie in the biot by the tip. Three wraps at the tie in are sufficient. Wrap the thread forward trapping any remaining biot flat to the hook shank. At the thorax let the bobbin hang. If there is any remaining biot trim it. When I am wrapping the biot I start the first three or wraps with my fingers for control. It seems easier. Switch to hackle pliers for the remaining wraps, overlapping slightly up to the thorax and tie in with three or four wraps of thread. Cut away any remaining biot and let the bobbin hang.
4) Wax the thread. From your dubbing source pull several (not many) long strands of dubbing. If you pull gently, stretching the fibers as you pull the dubbing will go on very finely to the thread. Spin very tightly, about eight times the hook gape for the first wrap. Wrap the thorax with the dubbing. I usually make a sort of figure eight with the dub making a small and tight ball of dub. If necessary repeat the process. Let the bobbin hang.
5) Select the hackle. I prefer Hungarian Partridge dyed olive for this fly. Use the feathers closest to the head for this pattern. Prepare the feather by stripping the downy feathers exposing the shaft. Using tweezers grab the very center of the point of the feather and draw back the other fibers away from the tip. You will size the length of the barbs at this point. In other words look at the length of the barbs and decide where on the feather the right length appears in sufficient quantity to make two wraps. Tying in with the very tip brushed in the opposite direction of the fibers to be wound will leave a space which gives a clear area for the tie in.
6) Tie in the hackle at the front of the thorax by the tip, with the curve of the feather fibers toward the hook bend. Make two or three firm wraps to bind the hackle (it is easy to pull the hackle off the hook as you start winding it on – if you do, no worry, just repeat the tie in with the same hackle even after trimming the tip). Trim the tip and make two or three wraps toward the eye, let the bobbin hang. The hackle should be at the thorax dub. One last note – before tying in some tiers will trim away some of the feather barbs on the opposite side of the tie in. This will help in preventing the hackle from bunching as it is wrapped. You can do this in advance or in place. Trim only enough for one wrap.
7) Using hackle pliers wrap the hackle for no more than two turns, keeping the turns close to one another and advancing toward the eye. When wrapping make sure to not twist the hackle as you wrap. You can also brush back the fibers as you wrap to prevent unwanted entrapment of fibers. Secure with two or three wraps and trim the waste hackle.
8) Form a thread head, whip finish and add head cement.
There are many, many Soft Hackle fly patterns including Olive Soft Hackle, Brown Soft Hackle and Partridge, Orange and Peacock Soft Hackle and Green Soft Hackle.
- Tom Adams, Tim Wilhelm