tying

21st Century Soft Hackles

By Jeff Morgan

An old standard gets updated for the new millenium

inter is the best time to reload the boxes for the next season of trout fishing. There's no rush to get flies ready before an upcoming trip, and there are few hatches that require immediate imitation. This means we get a bit more time to do some experimenting.

Over the past two winters, my experimentation has been inspired by a surprisingly traditional family of fly patterns...the soft hackles.

The Limitations of Soft Hackles

My thinking on a Soft Hackles used to be that it was not an "optimal" fly. It doesn't imitate anything: there are no yellow-bodied, white-legged bugs; and even the most determined caddis pupa cannot swim against the current in manner of a surface swing.

My feeling was that almost anytime an angler catches fish on soft hackles there is another pattern and technique that is more effective. In other words, swinging soft hackles is one of the best techniques to catch a couple fish, but one of the worst to catch the most possible fish.

That said, there is no challenging the success of anglers who catch fish--plenty of fish--with soft hackles. These patterns can be very effective when used in the right place (moderately-paced runs) at the right time (evening, when fish are looking up for emerging and egg laying insects) for the right fish (the 20% that are aggressive and opportunistic).

Changing My Mind

Recently, however, two things changed my mind. First was Jack Lynch, a darn good angler and fly tier who whooped me on the river several times with soft hackles. He uses them all the time, under almost all conditions. And he frequently catches as many fish as any other angler on the river.

His repeated success made me rethink how and why soft hackles are productive, as well as considering the variety of techniques in which you can fish them.

The second motivation to revisit soft hackles came when I started bird hunting to supply myself with feathers. The initial goal was to get the bread-and-butter tying feathers (pheasant tail, partridge, duck quill, duck flank, etc), but I soon found myself accumulating a variety of feathers that are unavailable in stores and perfect for soft-hackled patterns.

After blending these various feathers with contemporary tying materials--antron, CDC, sparkle dubbings, vinyl ribbing material, beads, Krystalflash, among others--I finally realized that there was much more possible with soft hackles than the traditional Partridge-and-Yellow or Snipe-and-Purple.

I now tie two general soft hackle styles, attractors and imitators.

Attractor Soft Hackles

Attractor soft hackles work in the same conditions that most people use attractor dry flies: broad riffles, pocket water, midday, and unfamiliar water. I rarely fish attractor flies, but while experimenting with soft hackles this year I found that attractor soft hackles can be just as effective as Royal Wulffs and Humpies. This is especially true on larger rivers.

Be creative with your attractor soft hackles. Mix and combine new materials to create functional flies that are designed for specific conditions and not specific insects. I think of attractor soft hackles as like steelhead flies: the tier designs patterns for light, depth, and water conditions rather than natural foods.

One of my favorite new attractor soft-hackle styles is to add a sparse flashy underwing with pearl Lite Brite. This can be a good addition to old standbys like the Partridge-and-Yellow as well as flashy modern versions. Even on "natural" soft hackles the flash can match the trapped gasses in emerging nymphs and pupae.

Examples are the Superbird, Uber Soft Hackle, and Peeking Soft Hackle

Imitator Soft Hackles

The best times to use "imitator" soft hackles are during insect emergences and egg laying activity. While caddis are the best insect to imitate with soft hackles, mayfly and stonefly activity during rainy or windy conditions can make these patterns more productive than standard dry flies.

Also, soft hackles can be quickly added as a dropper off of a dry fly or emerger, so you don't have to abandon your old reliable patterns in order to experiments. This is where a variety of imitative soft hackles that approximate the color and size of the natural can be much more productive than relying on the old standbys.

Examples are Green Drake Soft Hackle and Power Soft Hackle.

Presentation

Soft hackles do not need to be fished exclusively with a wet-fly swing. They can be equally deadly as a dropper off a dry fly or under an indicator rig. I even use them as a dropper while high-stick nymphing. It is harder to find an unproductive way to fish a soft hackle than it is to find a technique that works!

Patterns

Superbird
Peeking Soft Hackle
Green Drake Soft Hackle
Power Soft Hackle
Uber Soft Hackle

Jeff Morgan has written many articles for Westfly, mostly on entomology and fly tying. He is the author of An Angler's Guide to the Oregon Cascades and Small Stream Fly Fishing. Jeff is currently a graduate student at Stanford University, where he is finishing his PhD in History.