The Partridge and Yellow Soft Hackle (the bucktail, streamer, and soft hackle)
from Skip Morris' book, "Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple, 1992"
Sylvester Nemes rediscovered an unusual fly and developed some unusual methods for fishing it. In 1975 he revealed these efforts to the fly-fishing world in his book The Soft Hackled Fly. What he rediscovered is a simple, bare-bones fly that looks exactly like nothing but suggests a lot, and what it usually suggests are hatching mayflies, caddisflies, and even stoneflies.
"Soft hackles," as these flies are often called, may be fished in a variety of manners: just under the surface dead drift, twitched or swum (or, as fly fishing author Dave Hughes described it to me, coaxed") across the current, or even floated dead drift to imitate a spent, bedraggled caddisfly (an approach from fly-fishing artist Richard Bunse).
The Partridge and Yellow Soft Hackle we will explore here is only one of many variations - other body colors and materials, other hackle colors and types, and even variations of hook styles (light wire, heavy wire, various shank lengths) are used.
Partridge And Yellow Soft Hackle
Hook: Dry fly, standard length, sizes 10 to 16
Thread: Yellow (or simply a pale color), size 8/0 or 6/0
Abdomen: Yellow single-strand floss
Thorax: Hare's mask fur (a thorax is optional)
Hackle: Brown hen saddle hackle or partridge flank
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The Abdomen And Thorax
Smash the barb on a size-12 dry-fly hook (the hook shown is a Daiichi model 1180), and mount it in your vise. Start the thread about 1/16 inch behind the eye, and then use the pinch to tie in the floss. Secure the floss and trim its end.
Lift the long end of the floss and spiral the thread down it to the bend; secure the floss at the bend. Spiral the thread forward and stop when it is about two thirds up the shank. Wrap the floss, in close turns, up to the thread and secure its end with the thread; trim the end of the floss. Add hare's ear dubbing to the thread and then dub a short, thick thorax.
The Abdomen And Thorax - Problems, Solutions, And Suggestions
- For a thicker abdomen, wrap the floss forward, then rearward, then forward again creating three layers; if you stop the second layer short of the bend, it will give the abdomen a tapered appearance.
- If you have a floss bobbin, here is a quick way to build the abdomen: Start with the floss, just as you would the thread, by locking the floss over itself and cutting its end; then build the body, work the floss to the thorax area, start the thread over the end of the floss, trim the floss's and thread's end together, and continue tying as usual.
Hackling
There are a number of ways to hackle this fly; I think it best to start with the easiest. Other methods will be covered in the "Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions" section. In his book American Nymph Fly Tying Manual, Randall Kaufmann says:
"Hen saddle feathers are similar to partridge body feathers, but partridge is smaller, less dense, and more difficult for beginning tiers to handle, but it creates an excellent effect."
"Hen saddle really is the best choice for your first soft hackle. Switch to partridge later if you like, or just stick with the hen."
I think it also noteworthy that there seems to be considerable disagreement concerning hackle-fiber length for soft-hackles - some experienced tiers prefer that the fibers reach only to the rear of the body; others like the fibers long. The instructions that follow will create a longfibered soft hackle, but remember that you have options.
Select a brown hen saddle hackle with well-marked, unbroken fibers. Draw the fibers out to a right angle on one side, either side, of the stem. Measure the fibers against the hook; note the place where the hackle has fibers of a length equal to the distance from behind the eye to the rear extremity of the hook, and then strip the fibers from this point to the base of the stem-on both sides.
If you prefer, you can use a hackle gauge- simply look for the fibers of appropriate length for a hook two sizes larger than the one you are using (this means that for your size 12 hook, you want a size 8 hackle).
Tie in the hackle at the front of the thorax using a light turn followed by a few tight securing thread turns. Try to tie in the hackle so that its tip projects from the far side of the hook slanting back, the hackle lays on its side with its fibers pointing up and down from the stem, and its cupped face is to the back.
Trim the hackle's stem. Get a good grip with your hackle pliers; their jaws should be well into the hackle's tip. This hackle is somewhat fragile, so use light pressure as you wrap it in one turn. With your left hand, draw back all the hackle fibers from this first turn using a sort of loose triangle; then take another turn of hackle. Draw this one back with the triangle as before and add the third and final turn of hackle. Now you should have three close, consecutive turns of hackle.
Secure the hackle's tip with two or three thread turns, trim, draw back the hackle fibers with the triangle as you build a thread head, trim the thread, and add head cement to complete the Partridge and Yellow (Hen and Yellow?) Soft Hackle.
Hackling -- Problems, Solutions, And Suggestions
- Many tiers prefer to draw the fibers back from the tip of the hackle (hen or partridge body), tie the hackle in by its tip, and then wrap the hackle by holding its butt. The tricky part is judging the fiber length-starting too near the tip will require too many hackle turns to reach the fibers of appropriate length, but starting too far down the hackle will put the appropriate fibers onto the hook too soon. Despite this, once you get used to just how long the fibers need to be, this tip-first method will come quickly and easily. (See "Tying in the Wingcase Fibers and Legs" in "The Morristone.")
- Some of the keener anglers I know (Dave Hughes, Rick Hafele and Richard Bunse in particular) are tying their soft hackles with sparser hackles than before- let's face it, real caddisflies and mayflies have only six legs. The best way to accomplish this is to strip one side of the hen or partridge, and then wind the stripped feather in only two or three turns.
1. Tie in and wrap a flosa body.
2. Dub a short, thick thorax.
3. Select, measure, and prepare a hen saddle hackle.
4. Tie in the hackle as shown, using a light turn.
5. Wrap one turn of hackle.
6. Draw back the fibers from the first turn of hackle; then add a second turn; repeat this sequence for the third and final turn.
7. Tie off the hackle, trim its tip, and complete the fly.