{Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Tying soft hackle flies is kicking my butt...

Mark pretty well covered it.  There are 2..or actually 3 ways of tying them and they all work.  You can tie by the tip and wrap using the stem as a 'handle' like this  --

https://vimeo.com/29630395

The disadvantage of this method is it tends to result in "pulling out" more than the others.  

The other methods both include tying the feather to the hook by its stem.  You can either tie it by the stem up at the eye of the hook and wrap backwards to your awaiting thread, or you can tie it by the stem as you move toward the eye and then just grasp the feather tip and wrap forward like you would for the first (tip) method in the video ^^.  

They all work fine and it's really just personal preference.  

It sounds like you probably 'get' how to do it, but just need some practice with it.  If you tend to crowd you hook eyes like most of us do, you may get problems when winding the hackle over 'lumps', which will throw your soft hackle collar out of whack, or maybe result in uneven coverage around the collar.  I did that for a long time and still mess it up once in a while.  

You can also tie them using some alternative methods, some of which allow you to use bigger feathers on smaller hooks.  Craven posts his method here --

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/print.cfm?parentID=155

I prefer the youtube one though where you tie in a bundle and then use a loose wrap to splay the feathers around the hook, sort of like spinning hair.  Youtube "soft hackle larger feather" - Walter Wiese - and you'll get it.  

Gene

On Friday, July 8, 2016 at 12:01:40 PM UTC-4, Jim White wrote:

Mark,

Many thanks for the offer, I will see you Monday with gear in tow.

I've read many resources and watched a lot of YouTube on the subject. For some reason I just can't get my fingers to manage the actual tying aspects. I think a few minutes of hands on instruction will have me soft hackle tying with the best of them.

Cheers,

Jim

 

On Friday, July 8, 2016 at 11:52:26 AM UTC-4, namfos wrote:

Here's some additional resources from the Interwebs: 

http://www.williamsfavorite.com/

https://donbastianwetflies.com/tag/vernon-s-pete-hidy/

http://www.ngatu692.com/Vernon_Hidy.pdf

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