Soft Hackle Feathers, part two...hen feathers

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.
 

 

Soft hackle feathers part one...mottled

In the craft of tying soft hackle flies one of the alternative types of feathers to use is the game bird. And in the selection of these feathers are the feathers that have a mottled effect which give what I believe  that added life look. The photo above shows several types of feathers from different game birds. The top left shows the woodcock. It's soft brown color and super natural movement in water make it one of the best feather choices for soft hackle flies.  The feathers right below are those of a Grouse. These feathers are a deep brown to almost red. The feathers at top right are partridge. You can see distinct colors in the feathers which were all taken from the same bird. There a dark and light feathers. The partridge is probably the best know feather used in soft hackle patterns. Below are a few soft hackle flies tied with the various feathers above. They all feature a orange silk thread body with natural hare dubbing.

 

 

The Orange and Woodcock
 

The Grouse and Orange
 

The Partridge and Orange using a gray shoulder feather.
 

The Partridge and Orange using a brown feather from the back of the bird.
 

 

That Season...That "Glorious Season"

This is the last day of September, the skies have opened up and gave us a much needed drink. I have not seen an actual rainfall number but from my not so sophisticated rain gauge I make it 2 inches. From radar views the state may have exceeded 3 inches. This influx of water will have an impact on the small streams and bring some movement in wild trout.

The scene above is the start of the "glorious season"...that magical time when nature paints the New England area. The colors that come forth this time of year are nothing shy of incomparable. The season refreshes both mind and soul and gives us thought to the fact that there is something greater and this is just one way of showing us.

 

Both the brown trout and the brook trout choose this time to start the process of renewing their  species.
 

The colors of these fish will increase as time arrives to spawn.
 

Scenes like this are fully underway in Connecticut.
 

Autumn's colors are represented in this simple box of flies. I believe that these will serve me well for he next couple of months.
 

 

Super Soft, Soft-Hackle

The hen pheasant. I think it's the most versatile soft=hackle material out there. Just look at the amount of excellent usable feathers. There are so many sizes, and color variations and they can be applied to create almost any insect out there. Another good point to bring into this is the fact that the cost of this hen pheasant skin is cheap in comparison to other bird materials. It's value is tops in my book. The photo above shows a section of the pheasant skin near the rump. The thread spool is near the feathers that are very soft, marabou like. They have a slight barring to them and when wrapped on a hook make for life like movement in the water.

A pheasant marabou feather. I have tied several flies using this feather and have been successful especially in the last few weeks.

The pheasant and orange soft-hackle. Along with the super soft marabou feather I also slightly dub the body.

The partridge and olive, with a slight dubbed body. This fly has been working very well.

Lost And Found....And Soft-Hackles

A few weeks ago while fishing I glanced down and saw something reflecting light at me. It is not uncommon to see broken glass or a piece of metal along the stream. Curiosity got the best of me and I reached down to see what is was. As it turns out it was a plastic box that appeared to have something in it. Taking a closer look I saw some flies in it. I removed the debris from the box and opened it up. Inside were five flies that I recognized as mine. The reason I knew the flies were mine was one of them was a Smokey Mountain Forktail, a fly that no one ties around here. I started to think when the heck did I loose these flies. Over the next hours off and on I managed to piece together a time when I could have dropped the flies. I won't go into how I determined that because I hate typing...rest assured they are mine.

Looks like a bomber,a soft-hackle, two elk hair caddis and the forktail.

Tied up a few soft-hackles using orange silk thread with squirrel dubbing and starling hackle. The first one is tied on a long curved hook size 14

The second soft-hackle uses the same materials only it's tied on a dry fly hook. It to is a size 14

A soft-hackle fooled this native brook trout.