Fly Fishing: Tying and fishing as you like it...not neccessarily what's best...

When I began tying some of the first patterns I mastered (relatively speaking) were traditional wet flies...you know the winged sort. How-to info being scarce, I pretty much relied on Ray Bergman's Trout for fly recipes. For the uninitiated, the fly plates/recipes in the book show dozens, if not hundreds, of patterns...If there were any left out, I can't imagine not being able to come up with a suitable substitute.

Traditional wets are, to my way of thinking, just about the niftiest trout flies around; only traditional salmon flies can match their gaudiness and tied right seem to me come about as close to art as any.

Naturally I fished most what I tied best. But after awhile it became clear the best fish getters were wingless...soft hackles. Though I don't think were called that at the time, at least not in our neck of woods. I'm pretty sure we just lumped them together as wet flies. Label aside, soft hackles were way easier  (for me, getting the duck wing slips just so was a bitch to put it mildly) and since, at least in my mind, worked better tying wingless was something of a no-brainer.

These days I tie flies of every sort--dries, emergers, cripples, soft hackles, nymphs, streamers, you name it. I like tying dries and soft hackles best. I like fishing both equally well. But, especially on small streams, our usual SOP is to fish dries up and swing soft hackles back down. Yes, I know, not the best way to max out the body count but...As a wise man once noted...a lot more to it than just catching fish...or something like that...

On another track, I use Zelon in a lot of patterns these days. And for what it is ( seemingly readily available synthetic and all) thought it rather pricey. This winter as I poured over the J. Stockyard catalog preparing my annual re-stock order I discovered a substitute (MFC) which is considerably cheaper...being a bona fide cheap skate in such matters I thought to order a hank...Bottom line I really like the stuff--cheaper, way more material,  looks and seems to work just as good...can't beat it.

PS If old news please note: A by God geezer...I do claim the right to being, you know, slow on the uptake....

Fly Fishing: A Simple Fly That....

....gits 'er done. The life and times of the so-called "soft-hackle fly.

Soft-hackles are simple to tie and deadly...

 

Soft hackles are beautiful, lively, simple, spare, traditional and deadly. Well-known and wildly popular for many hundreds years the other side the big pond soft hackles in this neck of woods are near and dear to but a relative handful addicts. Also known as hackle flies, north country flies, stewart spiders, Yorkshire spiders and probably countless other handles I’m unaware. Most reporters seem to agree first-mention honors go to Dame Juliana Berners’ in the 1496 edition Treatise of Fishing with an Angle, but its origins are no doubt centuries older.

Back in the dark ages when I first started chuckin’ flies wets were extremely popular—both the winged and wingless models. The first time I recall hearing the term “hackle fly” was, I think, in an Outdoor Life article by the late, great Ray Bergman (sorry I don’t recall the date, circa 1950s probably, or the title, actually I might have read it in "Trout...oh well). The first I recall hearing the term “soft hackle” was later, perhaps not until Sylvester Nemes’ landmark book, The Soft-Hackled Fly hit the streets in the mid-70s. At any rate, the book created quite a stir for a short time and a lot of us (I, of course) who had drifted to “more sophisticated methods” were quick to jump back on the wagon. In my case, I’ve been on it more or less ever since.

I began tying flies as a young teenager. Self-schooled my first attempts were truly sorry affairs. The Old Man took one look, said something like “nice son, but for now I think I’ll continue shoppin’ Dewey’s” (the local hardware/sporting goods store). Later I heard him tell an uncle, “Looked a lot like a crippled bird but don’t say I said so.” But Bergman’s piece on “hackle flies” not only turned my sorry fly tying on its ear; the flies upped my fly caught catch rate at least ten fold.

Early favorites were the Brown and Gray Hackle/Peacock, the Whickam’s Fancy-- wicked to tie but a real killer once I got the hang of palmering the hackle. But it was the Orange Fish Hawk really got ‘er done. Indeed hackle flies were just what the doctor ordered for both a struggling fly-tyer and budding fly-fisher-boy. Interesting to note I read recently Jack Gartside, one of the all-time innovative fly tyers took an eerily similiar path--learned from reading Bergman, early favorites gray hackle peacock, orange fish hawk, strange indeed; although obviously he took his start an ran to a much higher level, than I. 

I caught a lot of trout on those flies and I enjoyed tying them. But, perhaps because I read too much, put too much stock in what the so-called “experts” were serving up at the moment, at some point I drifted away from “hackle flies.” Instead fell head over heels for charms of the dry fly and nymph—you know the hoity-toity side of the fly-fishing-life.

As with most things, what goes around eventually comes back around and thankfully “hackle flies” fit the bill.

PS The Big Hole river at Maiden Rock has risen above 7000 cfs; it is supposed to dry out today but more rain "moderate to heavy in spots" is forecast for tomorrow so...