Tying a crisp dry fly with cheap hackle
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- Опубликовано: 21 фев 2022
- Have you ever wondered how tiers of old used to make decent dry flies with poor quality hackle? I'll show you one method here with the Badger Hackle Peacock. A unique fly pattern with Lady Amherst pheasant tippets for the tail, and a peacock herl body.
Hook: #10-18 dry fly
Thread: Black
Tail: Lady Amherst pheasant tippets
Rib: Small copper wire
Body: Peacock herl
Hackle: Badger
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When I started tying in the late 70s as a kid. Store bought feathers (as my Dad called them) were expensive so my Dad would take me to the local farmers and workout a deal for the feathers, usually me cleaning, watering, stacking for the payment lol Using 2 feathers was almost a given for most dries but never had any peacock or wire for ribbing. Mostly I tied deer hair caddis and had great success. Thanks for the walk down memory lane and thanks for sharing.
Cool memory Layton! It's funny the things we remember after all these years. It makes me wonder what my kids will remember about me when they're in their 50s. Probably my bad dad jokes. :-) As for raiding my chicken coop, I'll occasionally pick up the feathers but they're mostly wing feathers and there's not much you can do with a buff chicken wing other than treat it like a duck slip. At least my birds make delicious eggs!
@@SavageFlies One of my co-worker is a bird hunter and I got a lot of full birds (ducks,pheasants and others) for free. I'm missing a video about skin a pheasant/duck/chicken and use the feathers for flies. - just an idea ;-)
I found this : ruclips.net/video/FKncUKSy6os/видео.html
Your dad reminds me of mine! Thank you for sharing.
It's crazy the difference in quality of hackle from what I learned on in the 90s. My Dad had a bunch of capes and materials he got in the 80s that I used. I bought a few a couple years ago after picking up fly tying again and was really surprised at how nice they were. Makes things a lot easier.
edit- and it's not just hackle. All materials are better - from thread, wire, hooks to all of the synthetic stuff that wasn't around then
In the 60’s my dad would often use up to 3- hackle feathers to get a nice fly. I learned that then and on occasion I do it as well. Another thing I still do today is raise my own roosters and hens of different breeds. My brother does the same thing. We often split capes and saddles and share with each other. Of game birds I shoot during hunting season I often get pheasant and other game birds pretty regularly. Occasionally I’ll find a bird that a raptor would kill and I will harvest all the feathers I can since owls and hawks will pluck feathers from their prey. I have been luck with pheasant hens I find as road kill and I’ll skin those. But the nice Hackle feathers
Great comment Ed. We keep chickens here, but for their eggs and not feathers. But someday I hope to raise a few more birds. Probably not until I retire out to the farm. But someday. :-)
My grandfather use to tell stories of going out on the farm in the 40s and finding random nests and using alot of the feathers that were already on the ground to tye flies ups. I've got a 70yr old blue Jay fly I've remade over the years as I find the feathers for it.
Great story! I know we're probably not supposed to use some song birds for tying, but when I find a dead bird in the yard I'll sometimes take a few of the feathers and put them in a Ziploc bag for some of my experiments.
Hi Matt.From the time I can rember,everone had chickens,even the town folks.Charlie bear Messer and bear Crocket all had domanecker and Roadisland red checkens.That's where they got their hackle. I have had chickens all of my life.And game chickens are great capes and saddles.There not Dr. WHITING grade hackle but are good.Growing up in the south,bet you know about game chickens,when one bites the dust you have a lot of good hackle.Raise you some chickens when you retire to the farm.I have seen both of my two old friends tie with two hackles.I use a few Indina and Chainse necks,but most are junk.Spend a few extra dollies for Whitting hackle,you won't be sorry. Ken
Great comment Ken! I had to look up domanecker chickens and they look to be very similar to the Plymouth Rock which is another bird to get grizzly feathers from. I keep a few chickens here too: some Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, and good ol' White Star birds. Of course we keep chickens for the eggs right now but when I retire to the farm, I hope to raise a mess of chickens and rabbits. Thanks for the note!
I enjoyed the explanation of older hackling techniques. It seemed to work well though. :-)
That's how I was told they did it: Multiple hackle feathers. Another technique was to tie two feathers with the concave sides facing each other. In theory, the barbs propped each other and formed a stiffer hackle. Like I said...in theory!
That's a pretty good tip Jim! I wish I had heard of that before doing this video and I would have certainly tried it. I might just have to try it anyway. Thanks for the note!
Yes, that’s how I learned to do it. Two hackles opposing each other. Probably got this from the Eric Leiser book.
Hi from Kansas City 🎣🤠 Dave Hughes.
I had an air pellet rifle and no bird was safe in my area. Under bridges at night you could take a tote sack and sneak along and fill it till it got to heavy to carry. Many great memories and meals. The pheasants would roost up in the peach trees with the chickens so I really didn't have any shortages of feathers or furs.
Thanks for your time and videos .
As a beginner, definitely gonna save some cash. Thank you.
A simple, yet elegant fly. Thanks for taking the time to share the 2 feather technique, it'll save a lot of frustration when all you have is lesser quality hackles. I've acquired several Whiting hackle capes and the difference is quite significant, but I have a lot of the lesser quality feathers that I can use up now. Maybe even mix 2 colors together for a different look. Thanks Matt!
You bet Troy! I agree there's nothing like tying with today's nice genetically bred hackle. Thanks for the note!
Thanks for bringing back old, forgotten tying tips. I still have many capes from 40+ years ago. Didn't much like using them then and have upgraded from them to Metz and now to Whiting capes and saddles. I now use the "old" stuff for feather-wing streamers and such. Thanks for sharing, Matt. Have a great day my friend.
Same here Todd! I do still buy cheap Indian rooster saddle patches, as they can make great streamer wings. But there's nothing like a good Whiting cape for dry flies.
Back in the day I didn't have exotic feathers like Lady Amherst, but I did have white feathers and a permanent black magic marker... 🤣With just a few strokes of the pen you now have a DYI Lady Amherst... LOL
Great tip Randy! If I thought of that I would have mentioned it in the video. Nothing wrong with making our own feather patterns. In fact, I've been in the market for an Argus pheasant feather but can't bring myself to spend a hundred bucks for six feathers. I could probably make one with a brown marker. :-)
Good morning Matt. Another cool old school fly. Thank you for explaining for the newbies how to use cheaper hackle. Have a great day my freind and stay safe.
You bet Karl; appreciate it my friend!
Good morning Matt☕️☕️
And thank you Dr. Tom Whiting for all the amazing hackle. Nice pick this morning Matt I will give it a go.
It may hit 73° here today and the rain has push out. Going to fish a small lake and 2pm. Have a safe and amazing day👍
Outstanding Jim; let me know how you did! It was a little rainy here today, but highs in the 60s so not cold at all. :-)
@@SavageFlies Brought in one small perch and a few short takes. It was fun but bad timing 🤨🤣🤣🤣
Nice fly, Matt. Once again a good share. Never thought about the old day supplies. We have it made.
We sure do Nich!
Multiple feathers were the ticket, but even then it was very difficult to get them to tie a #16 or smaller. Thanks for the video
Appreciate it Mike! Thanks for the note my friend. :-)
Wow ! Your descriptions of Badger and Indian hackle was clear and concise. To me made more sense than any other explanation I have ever heard or read. As always Matt, thanks ever so much for taking the time and effort to post informative fly tying information! Bravo Zulu.
Thank you Dennis! This was certainly confusing to me for a couple of years. :-)
Thanks matt 4 another good tie and good tips that work. I like this fly n I've been known 2 use cheaper quality hackles with good results on the water! It's good 2 let people know that every feather doesn't have 2 b premium quality. Keep up the good work. God Bless n fish on!
I really like the look of this fly. Also: the tip to tie in 2 feathers in respect to the India saddle hackle is excellent.
Thanks Jim! It does amaze me how the tiers of old could make some great flies with the hackle they had back then.
Matt it’s funny that you’re asking what we used years back. Well when I started way back. You’re right we had some hackle. But it was way out of our league to buy. Besides who wanted spend the money for fishing lures. So we would buy feather dusters made of rooster Hackle. You would be surprised how good it was. And it was cheap. Thanks
Ahhhh.... great tip Richard! I just bought a feather duster with about five years worth of ostrich herl. $8 on Amazon. Of course, they're all gray, but still, that's a lot of herl. :-)
Thanks Matt, thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You nailed it, Matt. When I started tying in the late 1950’s & very early 1960’s, I used 2-3 hackie tips facing concave to convex sides to float my dry flies on the Catskills rivers. As you know, I grew up spending summers on my grand aunt’s chicken farm. We are so lucky to have quality genetic hackle now!
Excellent Will; I appreciate this note! My hat's off to anybody who could make effective dry flies out of these old chicken feathers. And particularly Catskill style flies! I have trouble getting those right even with the highest quality Whiting cape out there. I'll figure it out someday though. :-)
On one of your other videos you opined that fly tiers of old certainly used materials at hand. This is a perfect example. Special materials will usually look better, but will almost certainly be more expensive, and may not fish any better. Thank you for helping to keep fly fishing affordable for more people!
You bet Tom, I appreciate the great comment my friend!
Nice fly Matt! Thank you for sharing this with us! I love watching your videos before I head to work! Thank you for your time and effort to help teach us the art of tying!! So much appreciated!
You're most welcome Barbara! I appreciate you watching and commenting. :-)
Dont forget furnace hackle! LOL
Yep, two hackles was usual... I often do it as the norm, regardless.
And a lot of your viewers may not know that The Adams dry fly, probably the quintessential dry pattern... it was tied originally with golden pheasant tippet as a tail.
I even wrote a piece about it - "The Great Adams Lie"
Lady Amherst could do as well, Im sure.
Love it - thanks!
David
Palmetto Fly N Fish
Great comment David! I do love the look of Lady Amherst. I've never had a full skin though so that might be something I should give a try.
Great tips and tie. Thanks for the video Matt !
Thanks Mike! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)
I feel like this is a great vid for beginners that don’t have the inventory of more experienced fly tiers
Thanks Sam! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)
Good morning Matt. Good explanation about the use of hackle feathers. Pretty neat old pattern. Just from reading some of the books about the history of fly tying it looks like some of the variations that we’ve come across are because the tier didn’t have a specific material. They substituted it so they could keep fishing, then found a combination that worked. It must be getting closer to spring as my dogs are getting me up earlier. It’s still miserably cold but spring is not far off now. More ☕️ required. Take care Matt.
You must have some young dogs John... my old hound can sleep until noon! And I think you're right about our forefathers tying with what they had. And that's probably why grizzly hackle was used so often in the Appalachian Mountain patterns. The Plymouth Rock was one of the most exotic chickens that was still commonly available. And still a great bird today! Thanks for the note my friend. :-)
@@SavageFlies Our Bichon-Schitzu is 4 and when we got her she always got up with me when I got up to get ready for work. Apparently her clock is set for 5:45AM Central Standard Time. When we went to Alaska her wake up times shifted one hour earlier with each time zone. She’s pretty much like clockwork but we are dog sitting and the additions have changed her timing.
Great subject. Now 71, been tying since I was ten. You are on board with using multiple hackles off Indian capes and saddles. You Tube is changing everything about how I tie now. For your tail I would just use white hackle fibers and tip with a black marker. And today with the use of dubbing loops, I may go back to my oversized Indian cape feathers, push them into a foam slot and use both sides of bigger feathers in a loop on my smaller dry flies. Another problems with Indian cape feathers, they would have dry and brittle stems. Use to soak these feathers in a glycerin solution. I mostly tie soft hackle and nymphs now. Dubbing loops help me here too with wet fly feathers that have fibers that are too long.
Al- this is a great comment; thank you! Funny you mentioned painting white hackle fibers with a marker. I tried that last night! I had a regular cheap strung saddle hackle, I took out about 15 and snipped the tips off flat and used a Sharpie on them. It didn't look exactly like Lady Amherst, but it was a passable substitute. As far as putting a feather in the foam slot... I actually have the Hareline foam tool for that but I'm not sure I would know how to put a feather from that in a dubbing loop. I'm going to have to do some research and see if I can figure it out. Thanks for the note!
I'm half way there. I almost got everything to start tying. This last week I found an old role up desktop. Heavy!! But it looks great with my soon to be tyflying station. Been buying all the big name brands. I hope this will surpass my beginning stage I to intermediate and into pro without buy or replacing it. Figure buy 1 time last long time. Anyways thank you for all the input and drive to start doing this. Might be a little lost without your post. Thanks again!
That's outstanding to hear! I'm looking forward to you getting started. Make sure to email me some pictures of your first ties. :-)
Awesome fly Matt. But you know I love the Peacock 🦚 Hurl. Thank you for the Hackle information and techniques. Very interesting and very beneficial knowledge to have. As for chickens 🐓, I have 64 years experience in eating them. With only a few months of knowledge related to fly tying. That’s why I appreciate your sharing of knowledge. Great video, already looking forward to seeing Thursdays video. Have a safe and blessed week.
Ha! Thanks Jeff. I've got quite a few years experience eating chickens myself. :-)
I guess we’re spoiled today. Thanks Matt. Great video.
We sure are Chad. So when you think about it, we've got no excuse for making crappy flies! Though I still make plenty of them. :-)
Sweet! Thanks for the tip Matt. 👍👍🎣🎣🐟🐟
Great tip Matt, thanks for sharing
Nice lesson Matt, I never would have thought to use two hackle fibers for cheap hackle. I know one thing, that fly will catch fish, because the magic material called peacock, works every time. Enjoyed watching. 👍thanks for sharing. 😀
Appreciate it Jim! And I agree; peacock herl is the magical material. :-)
Another great lesson in the books! Thanks Matt.
Thanks Garrett! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)
We used to clip the hackle to length using scissors.
As James Vetter stated below that two feathers with the concaves facing each other is what I have been told as well. I do like your pointer on using inexpensive rooster feathers, as I ty with a few guys that have a more limited budget and enjoy tying. Also this technique can be used to blend two colors of hackles to present something different to the fish or to have fun with while putting a twist on a dry fly or any style of fly that uses a hackle. Well done.
Appreciate it Darrell! And yes, this is a great way to get a combination of colors, similar to a lot of the Smoky Mountain patterns that use brown and grizzly in them. Thanks for the note!
Great topic. Looks just fine to me. Thx Matt. 🙂
Thanks Clyde! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)
I've been tying since the early 70s, and any trip I made to a fly shop would find me rooting through the "Indian" capes. I'd inspect each & every one looking for hackles that would work for #16-20s, or to get just the right colour. Even if I found a cape that would work, the feathers were short, & 2 if not 3 were needed to tie a decent dry or to mix up the feathers to get just the right colour (like with a "Adam's" dry). I still have quite a collection of those old capes, and still tie with them if the colour I'm looking for is among them.
Great comment Richard; thank you! I always love to hear stories from folks who have been tying for 30-40 years. I appreciate it my friend. :-)
Peacock hurl has to be one of the best materials we have, just catches fish. I have had to do this to get the amount of hackle I want. Sometimes I can't find anything but hackle twice the hook gap, so I just have to trim with scissors. Necessity is the mother of intention. Nice fly Matt.
Yes indeed Richard. I hate having to trim hackle on a dry fly but I've done it a time or two. A lot of my early dry flies, before I could really afford the good stuff... I just made no-hackle dries like deer hair bugs. With enough Gink you can make anything float. :-)
Nice pattern as always Matt.and great information on hackle.thanks buddy.
Appreciate it Mike!
Another awesome video, I really like how show that you don’t always need the best or Exact materials to awesome flies thanks for the awesome work you do!!!
Thanks J! I appreciate the note and kind words my friend. :-)
Back when I started tying, I tried the lndan rooster hackle and gave up on dry flies. Saved them for bass bugs
Using a real hackle makes all the difference in the world
Yes it does Dave! My early dry flies used cheap hackle and cork bodies. :-)
Thanks for another great fly Matt. I'm planning to start tying my first flies soon so all I'm doing now is soaking up tons of info and the lesson I learned from this one is a familiar one: paying a bit more for quality is usually worth it in the long run. Thanks.
That's great to hear Deake! And I agree with your sentiment about paying a bit more for quality which will be better in the long run. My best advice there is to be careful and try not to buy things that you don't actually NEED. You can save a lot of money buy keeping that in mind. :-)
@@SavageFlies That's my plan Matt. I know it won't be easy to avoid trying to buy tons of stuff but I plan to only a very minimal amount of products and tools until I can get the hang of tying and then go from there.
Matt, I'd like to send you a few pics of a fly that I think will change your mind about Amherst Pheasant tippets. 🙂
Glen- please do! My email is matt@savageflies.com. :-)
Very informative video Matt!! As a newbie I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge!!
Well thank you James! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)
A lot of individuals who demonstrate how to tie certain fly never discuss thread thickness ..6/0 , 8/0 and other designations . It would be educational.
Good advice Matt. I deleted my first loooooong comment, you probably can still see it. I didn't tie hackled drys when I first started, just Comparaduns, latter Usuals. I used India necks for nymph hackle and streamers, don't remember using them for drys but I probably did. Got my first "quality" neck down in Cooperstown at a sports shop close out sale with my brother, while he bought baseball cards and I got a #2 grizzly neck for $25. I felt it suited my needs. Although I tied some drys with that #2 neck I never got into fishing drys that much. Doing what you did was the practice back then unless you knew Darbee or Miner and latter Metz. Now with Whiting and other breeders there's many fly tying specific feathers available. Bottom line, tying flys is fun, so is fishing them, catching fish is icing on the cake no mater what level of the water column they come from.
Great comment Joe! I can imagine two kids visiting Cooperstown, the baseball mecca of the world, and one buying baseball cards and the other buying feathers. That's a funny visual. I don't think I had a good dry fly cape until I started tying again in my 40s. My first dry flies (back in the 80s) were of the panfish and bass bug variety and I could get away with cheap strung saddle hackle. I guess that's why I didn't tie too much fancier than poppers as a kid. But speaking of that... I just ordered an airbrush kit and I'm going to start playing around with painting popper bodies. Some of those look like pieces of art! I'm not sure how many videos I'll make of panfish poppers, but if I can make some good looking ones, I'm sure I'll make a video or two of them. :-)
@@SavageFlies Cool! Yeah, Copic got a foothold in the fly/lure making market. Did you get one of their systems? Fly Tyer had a good article on making poppers a while back. Sounds fun! Man, the wind is wailing this morning, temp is 55, getting ready for the next "end of winter storm".
@@joeduca8582 No, I didn't even check out the Copic system. Looking at it now.. it does look pretty cool. I just got a basic 1/5 HP compressor kit off Amazon. Nothing too fancy.
Finally caught up. As to tying 50 years ago I was tying when I was about 10 nor 12 years old but then too k about a 50 year break. Given that I can't really comment on what they did for hackle back then. Funny thing is I still have a couple of those first flies I ties, but they aren't very good. Nice fly Matt. Keep the good stuff coming Matt.
Ahhh, great comment. I wish I still had some of the flies I tied back in the 80s. They were monstrosities I'm sure. But it would be cool to see them today. :-)
Thanks Matt I like this one a lot for their so much to learn :-)
Thanks Marty! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)
I no longer buy cheap necks. I do, however, have a farm. Raising chickens inherently lands you in a position of surplus soup, er... , I mean roosters. I do not save feathers from every bird.. but I have saved feathers from a few hens for wets/soft hackles and I have a few prized rooster skins. They are NOT metz quality- but are often comparable or a touch better than the cheapo necks. The advantage for me is the colors I occasionally get. I have two beautiful grizzly variants and one wyandotte (badger type) that have reached their end of service. Because of the diverse genetics we have introduced in the last 6 or 7 years, I occasionally get some pretty feathers.
Oh man, you're doing what I want to be doing someday. We keep chickens for eggs but I'd like to raise a few for their feathers. I've even thought about raising pheasants but I hear they can be a pain in the butt and don't always get along with each other. Now pea fowl... that's another bird I'd like to think about keeping. Thanks for the note Matt. :-)
@@SavageFlies We debated pea fowl.. but like guinea they are a little.. rowdy.
We do it for fun and for eggs. We typically try to get new breeds every time and it has made some real pretty feather combinations. Our 2nd and 3rd generations are starting to get interesting :-)
Still not great dry fly hackle- but as you said in the video you absolutely can make it work!
I made this fly before have a great my friend
Excellent topic. I used two feathers with the one with longer fibers first & the second shorter fibered one over & through the first as you just did. I was a pain to do though it did work.
Thanks Bob. It does make me admire the tiers of old who had to make do with these shaggy birds. :-)
I would probably wrap the two hackles at the same time, or attempt to. When I get a chance, I’ll have to try that. Not sure if that would help the barb density or not. Also how you place the feathers together would probably make a difference.
I think you're right Will. Jim made the comment about using two feathers with the concave sides together... if you try that, definitely wrap them at the same time. I think that might work well.
Cool and is a fish able fly especially with peacock hurls!
Thanks Sally! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)
Great looking fly Matt. I started tying as a kid way before genetic hackle but by the time I got serious we had Metz and CQH and then you could get by with one feather and the barbs were stiffer. Also, I've heard of some tyers running a black sharpie down the center of a hackle before tying it in to simulate badger. I don't think I've ever tried that but I have stippled a wound hackle with black marker on a completed fly.
That's a great tip Daryl. I've got a nice Whiting cape in ginger that might look pretty cool after running a black marker down the center. I might have to give that a try. :-)
Great fly i going tmake one
And very informative information
Hi Matt finally somebody made a video of the way dry flies were tied before Metz and whittington hackle well done
Thanks Burton! This is certainly not something I do very often but I did always wonder how they did it back then. :-)
Love the halfway thread control of peacock herl! Also how to make the best of marginal materials. Also the music. Is it Cape Breton?
Thanks Paul! This music is from the royalty-free library RUclips gives us access to. This one is called "Banish Misfortune" by Nat Keefe and Hot Buttered Rum. They have some pretty cool stuff out there. :-)
I do have some cheaper hackle and was wondering if I wrapped more than the recipe said, if it would be too much. Now I know. Thanks Matt!
You bet Todd! I'd say that as long as the stems are thin enough and they don't build up too much bulk, we could use as many hackle feathers as needed. At least up to 3 or 4 maybe.
Dry chunks are only like ten bucks and has plenty of feathers of different sizes!! Best bang for buck for cheap dries!
Great point Alex! And still a great buy if, say you only need a little bit of white and don't want to buy a 1/2 cape. Thanks for the note. :-)
Cut a slim piece of white styrofoam from the tray your meat is packaged on an cut narrow strips off it.
Tie this either by winding it on your hook shank or by laying a piece or two parallel to the hook shank!
Wrap it well with waxed thread. Add the body of your choice on top of the styrofoam you put down first.
The body may be somewhat thicker than it would have been but the foam will add significant flotation!
You could color the foam with a permanent marker and just use it as the body, rib it etc. The hackle you use then
doesn’t have to be all that good to float your fly!
Great tip Mike! I've never even considered using a Styrofoam meat tray. I'm going to have to save the one from the next time we have chicken. :-)
After you gets used to doing it, it works great for using 2 colors.
Great tip! Thanks for the note my friend. :-)
Nice handsome simple [pattern :-)
Thanks Terry! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)
Thanks. I'm a newbie and as dollar conscious as the next guy, so correct me if I'm wrong.
At the moment my interest is primarily dry flies for panfish and bass. I have no trout in my area. It looks like for the amount of dry fly hackle I'd get from Indian hackle I'd be money ahead to pay more so I get more of what I want more of. Right?
What parts of the bird should I buy to maximize getting dry fly hackle? What should I expect to pay for that ni August of 2022?
Thank you for all your videos and the time spent sharing your knowledge.
I use that type of hackle that I get from Hobby Lobby.
You can use microfibbets and color the ends to get the same effect.
Great tip Ed!
As a newbie buying packets of hackle rather than capes I found that super helpful. Thank you.
Just thinking about the potential issues with using peacock herl I wondered if you had tried straggle string and what you thought of it? I’ve got some and like it. Definitely a different look to natural but much easier to work with and much more stable I think. Best W
Thanks Warren! I've never even considered using this but I'm checking it out now. It's basically looks like a micro crystal chenille. I'm putting this on my list for my next order. :-)
Catching up on my videos Matt, this is a very cool technique and fly. Out of curiosity, do you have other favorite patterns that call for golden badger hackle or ones that you like to use that for?
Thanks Justin... no particular dry fly patterns come to mind, but I do like to use badger hackle feathers for streamer wings. I tie one that has done pretty well for me: ruclips.net/video/mHmfIkzYPHQ/видео.html
Hi Matt, really appreciate your videos, I recently started tying again after a very long break from it. I live on the Swedish west coast and fish mainly for coastal sea run brown trout. Do you tie any saltwater patterns or any future plans to do some videos of saltwater fly patterns? Best regards Oliver
Thanks Oliver! I haven't ventured too far into saltwater patterns. Mainly because I've never fly fished saltwater and have never had a need for saltwater flies. But I might get the courage to start adding a few this year. :-)
Yes the Knoll kit I had contained those grades of feathers that were found on the average rooster. These didn’t make good drys so I tied very few. I didn’t think of using more than one feather because of the quantity in the kit. Because of my flies looking so bad from the start from my skill and the quality of the feather. I ended up not tying any for many years until my mid forty’s and at least now I have a bit better grade than before. I wish my flies looked better too🤣.
Ha! You should have seen the dry flies I tried to tie with cheap strung saddle hackle as a kid. It's no wonder I mostly made bass and panfish poppers. :-)
nice fly Matt, are you on you tube,Thanks Mark
I am Mark. This is actually where you're commenting and I'm responding. Did you mean to ask if I'm on some other platform?
Perhaps trapping those long fibres in a loop or in a split thread may work?
Maybe Paulo but I'm not sure I could pull that off and make it look decent. Maybe someone with more experience than me could though. :-)
Hi Matt, I've been tying 30+ years and genetic hackles weren't available back then so it was Indian cock necks or packs of loose hackles. Stems were thick and stiff so not easy to work with but they did work and looked OK. Genetic hackles are superb and Hoffman were the first I got but so expensive, I could get 10 flies out one saddle hackle. I have a nice collection of whiting capes and saddles now but I still use Indian hen and cock capes for nymphs, wets, streamers and lures.
Same here Graham! I use my cheap Indian capes and saddles for fuzzy wets and streamer wings. They can still look great on a feather wing streamer. :-)
The 60's wasnt 100 years ago🤣
Nice tie
Thanks for the great lesson. Great video, thanks Matt. I am not sure I appreciate you using “a hundred years ago”, and “the 1960’s” in the same video……
Ha! That's funny Lee. I still think of the 80s when I was learning like it was yesterday. Then my kids remind me that was 40 year ago. Oh how time flies. :-)
I only go back as far as 1979, but I’m pretty sure standard practice was to use two hackles from an inexpensive neck. I still do that, as I still have some of those necks that I bought over 40 years ago.
That's cool to hear! A couple years ago I found an old shoe box with some squirrel tails I had since the 80s. And you can't really tell them apart from the squirrels I got last year. Some of these materials seem to last forever!
I meant face book, lol I had a senior moment
Whiting farm hackle packs are non negotiable… too cheap to pass up even at $30-90 a package depending
thanks for the info matt. cool way to use cheap hackle. but you know what i would like to see is you do a instagram flie you always say its not a instagram flie its a fishing flie. so can we see you do a instagram one some day. thanks see ya joe. and as always i will be watching.
Ahhh... I appreciate the note Joe, but now you're putting the pressure on me! I'll have to pick a pattern I'm really comfortable with and practice it a bit. But I'll try to do one soon. :-)