Hen hackle, feathers that come from hen chickens. These are the most common and the least expensive of hackle available to the soft hackle fly tyer. These come in a variety of colors, and most patches have a great amount of feathers is various sizes on each patch. Most of the feathers are uniform in shape and they are easy to work with. I have found that very few of them break when winding. They also lay nicely when wound and are not fighting with you in the process. The hen feather can help you when trying to tie the old patterns where the original hackle used is no longer available or is so expensive. Most times you can match up those feathers to a hen patch.
But the true test comes in the movement of a hackle to draw a strike. Hen feathers do just that. Their movement in water is incredible. Soft and subtle and so life like. The photo above shows hen hackle in various sizes, shapes and colors.
Gray hackle and green....a simple fly that has many fish to it's credit
Gold and claret...
This is one of my favorite soft hackle flies. Cream and yellow...these flies can be found on the water from May through September. They are a great trout fly but I also have luck using them on bluegills and bass.
Alan- Beautiful proportions on your flies. Please show how you tie in the hackles in a future post.
ReplyDeleteJim R
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Jim I will do that.
You're right Jim, great flies. I would consider those as being low water ties.
ReplyDeletebillp
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Bill low water you would be right.
Hi Alan
ReplyDeleteWonderful ties once again.......
I fish similar flies to the first and last patterns you have tied there. I use olive Pearsall's & a smoky dun Hebert Miner hackle for the early and late season Baetis and straw Pearsall's and white hackle from a grouse underwing for Pale Watery Duns, Pale Evening Duns and Spurwings. I love the balance of your flies, with the small thorax behind a faint shroud of hackle. The next batch of soft hackles to hatch from my vice will definitely hackle that little buzz of dubbing behind the hackle!
Take care and stay safe
Alistair
Alistair
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Alistair, "pale watery duns" Oliver Edwards calls them the same. They are a good producer here. I love a sparse thorax.
The Master at work. The segmentation in the body is very striking to me and subtle trigger for the fish. The addition of a smattering of dubbing is not strictly North Country (those patterns sometimes feature a turn or two of peacock or magpie herl in front or behind the hackle, sometimes both, e.g., a Red Clock Pruitt No. 16) but a worthy perhaps American innovation (Nemes patterns show this, plus Nemes insisted on a definite thread head like Alan's). I think as to the tie-in question Jim R posed is that the hackle is first brushed back so the individual hackles are more or less at right angles to the shaft of the feather, then it is tied in by the tip and excess cut off, or sometimes you see the tier nip off the tip, leave a tiny nub, and use that to catch and tie the hackle in. Two turns or so winding forward in close wraps, perhaps stroking back the fibers as you wind to keep individual feathers from getting tied down by the next wrap. McPhail videos are helpful here, but he makes the most difficult steps look easy! Alistair those patterns make me think you fish the far side of the Pond!
ReplyDeleteKevin
Hi Kevin,
DeleteYes I mainly fish the River Tees just off the Pennines in County Durham and the little River Leven in and around Captain James Cook country in North Yorkshire (as well as a couple of cross border raids to the Tweed and Whiteadder in Scotland!).
Alistair
Ned Zeppelin
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Kevin I tied the Red Clock, the cock pheasant feather is a tough one to wind. I have not fished it yet but perhaps this week.
I agree with your assessment on finishing the heads. Many tenkara flies have a long head. Herl heads work very well on these flies. They will be featured in a future post.
Alan,
ReplyDeletePart two (above) is bound to be a classic! So well done and photographed! You are so spot on with your comments about hen hackles being great substitutes for the original, harder to come by hackles!
Your patterns above are to die for and a great inspiration for those of us (me actually) looking for beautiful patterns to imitate!
Doug
Dougsden
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Doug one could go bankrupt and crazy trying to get the "proper" hackles for a great deal of the older patterns. Thank goodness we have chickens.
Alan
ReplyDeleteThe cream and yellow is my favorite, I could see a trout or bluegill inhaling this fly. Great work and thanks for sharing
Can you email me your address
Bill Trussell
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Bill those light colored mayflies are on the water from spring to fall. Fish really lock onto them. Email done.