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The Holsclag Hackle Fly
An acronym that catches smallmouth |
line and leader. The movement of the indicator is often the only sign of a strike, especially when there is a belly in the fly line. Set the hook hard when the indicator moves.
What about colors and materials?
Tim: Any body colors are fine as the fly is brown with yellow legs and orange eyes. Seriously, a dark body with light contrasting legs seems to work best. Try a black body and tail with yellow or white legs, or even a dark green body with black tail and hackle and yellow legs.
Although I'm not an advocate of using synthetic flash materials in all smallmouth flies, using root bear-ice chenille or 8 to 10 strands of root-beer-colored Krystal flash in the tail can sometimes cause the fly to be more effective. Be careful of the length and thickness of the rubber legs you use--the legs must flex out from the body even in moderate current. It's also important to use a correctly weighted fly for the water depths and speeds you encounter. I carry flies ranging from 1/50th to 1/24th.
THE HHF
Hook: #2 Mustad 3366
Tail: Long brown turkey marabou
Body: Large brown chenille
Hackle: Medium-size brown saddle hackle
Legs: Yellow flat live-rubber skirt material
Head: 1/50 to 1/24 oz. barbell eyes painted orange or red (iris) with black pupil
Instructions:
Tie in the barbell eyes just behind the eye of the hook. Paint the eyes. After the paint has dried, tie on the rubber legs. Use rubber skirt material that comes in a solid-tape form; use two strips together for each of the two legs tied on top of the hook shank one-third of the way back from the eye. Trim the legs to 7/8 length on both sides. Tie the rest of the fly like a Woolly Bugger--tie marabou in a the bend of the shank, then the hackle. Tie in the chenille and wrap forward. Palmer the hackle and tie off just forward of the barbell.
Dan Johnson writes frequently for Midwest Fly Fishing on tying flies for warm-water gamefish.
By Dan Johnson
I was reading a newspaper the other day and I came across this sentence: "At an FDA hearing, the CEO of an AG-based CO-OP complained that the EPA-imposed EIS has grossly affected his GAP." Isn't contemporary rhetoric fun?
And, just when you think you've had enough of them, another acronym pops up, but this one may stick in your mind because what it represents will help you catch more smallmouth bass.
HHF stands for the Holschlag Hackle Fly. Named after the inventor, Tim Holschlag, this publication's warm-water fly fishing editor, the HHF is more than a fly, it's a fishing method that has accounted for phenomenal catches of stream smallmouth and occasional walleye.
Here are Tim's thoughts on why the fly is so effective and a few tying tips:
Tim: This pattern is designed to be a bottom bouncer, imitating a crayfish fleeing in the current. The secret is to tempt persnickety fish by hopping the fly slowly along the bottom.
What makes the HHF so much more effective than other patterns?
Tim: I have seen crayfish imitations that look as if they could bite you. Unfortunately for the anglers who spend hour tying them, they don't catch many fish. Smallmouth react to stimuli produced by the their prey, especially crayfish. The HHF combines several of these stimuli into one tasty package. The large marabou tail, the hackles and the rubber legs create movement and undulation that might remind smallmouth of fleeing crayfish. The attractiveness of fish to contrasting colors of the body and the legs is a mystery, but I keep using it because it's successful. Another ingredient is the orange or red eyes. Flies with orange eyes (or red) generally catch more fish those without them.
How should the fly be fished?
Tim: Keep the fly close to the bottom and give it a hopping action. If possible, fish the fly with the current. As the fly drifts downstream towards you, make the fly hop off the bottom with short snaps of the rod tip, recovering line between snaps. Keep fishing the fly until the line straightens out downstream--often a fish will nail it as it swings at the end of the drift.
Which lines and rigging do you recommend?
Tim: For most stream fishing, a weight-forward fly line is fine. Because tapered leaders with thick butt sections inhibit the sinking of the fly, use a level monofilament leader of 8- to 10-pound test. The leader should be about two and a half times longer than the depth of the water being fished. Most of the leaders I fish are 9- to 12-feet long. I also use a indicator attached to the junction of the fly
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copyright Midwest Fly Fishing Magazine 1999
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