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| I had the great pleasure of acting as chauffer to Sylvester “Syl” Nemes many years ago when he attended a Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock-Michigan event. At that time I was experimenting with some diminutive little wet flies called Soft-Hackles and Syl was then and still is the guru of this class of wet fly. I asked many questions that day. Syl’s great book, The Soft-Hackled Fly, first published by Chatham in 1975 is still the publication most tiers reach for when they want the straight scoop on these little wet flies. The reader will be taken on a 137-page tour of Syl’s discovery of the soft-hackle pattern, the history of the fly, how to fish them and certainly how to tie them. They are some of the simplest flies to tie and can be very easy to fish. Early in The Soft-Hackled Fly Mr. Nemes tells us that the term soft-hackle applies to a class of wingless, subaqueous flies, the hackles of which come mostly from birds such as (Hungarian) partridge, woodcock, grouse, snipe, and starling. Far and away the most popular of these feathers for the soft-hackle tier is the Hungarian Partridge, or Hun. The ultra soft feathers, close to the head vary in color from pale dun to shades of earthy brown and have a lovely flecking pattern throughout. They are beautiful little feathers and lend the look of life to the fly. The most popular soft-hackles one is likely to find in a fly shop will be tied with a simple floss body of yellow, green or orange with a turn or two of hackle at the eye. Simply known as the Partridge and Orange etc., they account for most over the counter soft-hackle sales. Add to that one constructed with a body of wire reinforced, wrapped turkey tail and the angler can head to the river fairly well equipped. Don’t let the materials of the old classic patterns keep you from experimenting with today’s modern synthetics. My favorite soft hackle is one tied with Opal Tinsel for the body and uses a tungsten bead for weight. The bead is certainly contrary to the way most are tied. I will explain in a moment. Let your imagination be your guide regarding materials. The typical technique for fishing soft-hackles is to use a single or double-fly rig tied on a long 4X or 5X leader. The flies are often separated by two feet or more. The angler faces down-stream, casting across and down. At this time most angles will mend the line down-stream to create drag to get the flies moving. Invariably, this technique pulls the flies up to the surface and drags them in the film. In the right water it is a deadly technique as far as numbers of fish go, but it is typically a “smaller fish” technique. One is normally casting into shallow water close to the bank where the smaller fish live and the fast dragging process is usually not conducive to producing bigger fish. |
When I fish traditional, non-weighted soft-hackles, I use a heavy or 2X heavy hook. I cast across and down, but let the flies settle a bit to get through the film. I may take a very slight mend downstream to the get the flies moving, but I don’t want them shooting through the water at “warp speed”. There is a fine line between dragging the fly and fishing drag free and dead drift. The flies need to be moving so I strive to be in very light contact with the fly so I can feel the take and yet not have the fly shooting across the surface. I may not catch as many fish, but I often catch bigger fish. I want my fly to be down amongst them. |
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