{{+1}}Wet fly – hackles{{-1}}

Hackles and hackle fibres are used in various ways in the construction of wet flies. Whilst poorer dry fly hackle capes have traditionally been used in wet flies, over recent years, specific wet fly capes and saddles have evolved by the selective breeding of various birds.

	Preferred characteristics of a wet fly hackle. Be relatively soft so that they will move in the water. Have barbules along the length of the hackle to be used that are about as wide as the gape of the hook. Because webbing in a hackle absorbs water more webbing is accepted in a wet fly hackle than in a dry fly hackle. Have a high count of soft individual barbules (individual feather fibres) along a firm sturdy quill.

Preferred characteristics of a wet fly hackle.

Be relatively soft so that they will move in the water.
Have barbules along the length of the hackle to be used that are about as wide as the gape of the hook.
Because webbing in a hackle absorbs water more webbing is accepted in a wet fly hackle than in a dry fly hackle.
Have a high count of soft individual barbules (individual feather fibres) along a firm sturdy quill.

	Once selected generally there is a bit of unusable hackle at the butt of the hackle that is removed prior to the hackle being used. If you examine the hackle carefully you will see that the hackle has a shiny side (the side facing out on the bird) and that the underside is a little duller. The other thing you will notice is that the barbules curve slightly down from the top/shiny side to the underside. This is part of natures way of giving birds a streamlined surface to assist with flight and the shedding of water. For a wet fly the hackle is tied in with the shiny/top side of the hackle facing forward so that when the hackle is wound forward or backward the barbules will have a natural tendency to slope backwards. If the hackle were tied in with the dull/underside side facing forward the barbules would have a tendency to face forward as in a dry fly.

Alternative uses of wet fly hackles

A	Palmered hackle legs A woolly bugger is a good example of a fly with a palmered hackle that represents legs. With a palmered hackle the legs extend along the full length of the fly and in all directions. When palmering legs onto any fly be careful not to overdress the fly with too much hackle. The best hackles for a woolly bugger are those that: Are relatively soft so that they will move in the water. Are about twice as long as the overall hook length. Have barbules that are about twice as wide as the gape of the hook at the butt end and then reduce in width along the full length of the hackle to be used until they are as wide as the gape of the hook. Legs - palmered hackle

Palmered hackle legs

A woolly bugger is a good example of a fly with a palmered hackle that represents legs. With a palmered hackle the legs extend along the full length of the fly and in all directions. When palmering legs onto any fly be careful not to overdress the fly with too much hackle.

The best hackles for a woolly bugger are those that:

Are relatively soft so that they will move in the water.
Are about twice as long as the overall hook length.
Have barbules that are about twice as wide as the gape of the hook at the butt end and then reduce in width along the full length of the hackle to be used until they are as wide as the gape of the hook.

Legs - palmered hackle

B	Hackle beard legs Hackles are said to be tied in beard style when they are tied in toward the front of the fly and then the barbules are pulled down and back with the tips of the hackle fibres toward the hook point. A good example of a bearded hackle fibres is a Mudeye. legs - hackle beard

Hackle beard legs

Hackles are said to be tied in beard style when they are tied in toward the front of the fly and then the barbules are pulled down and back with the tips of the hackle fibres toward the hook point. A good example of a bearded hackle fibres is a Mudeye.

legs - hackle beard

D	Full 360° hackle legs Legs on a wet fly are tied in "full" when a substantial number of wraps of the hackle are taken and the hackle tips extend 360 degrees around the hook shank all pointing back at an angle of between 30 degrees and 45 degrees to the hook shank as in the case of church nymph. Church nymph

Full 360° hackle legs

Legs on a wet fly are tied in "full" when a substantial number of wraps of the hackle are taken and the hackle tips extend 360 degrees around the hook shank all pointing back at an angle of between 30 degrees and 45 degrees to the hook shank as in the case of church nymph.

Church nymph

Sparse 360° or soft hackle

A sparse set of 360° legs or soft hackle legs are created on a fly when just one or two turns of soft wet fly hackle are wound around the shank of the hook and the hackle tips extend 360 degrees around the hook shank all pointing back at an angle of between 30 degrees and 45 degrees to the shank of the hook as in the case of spider. Partridge feathers are perhaps the most popular hackle for this type of application but body feather from other birds including swamp hen, duck, crow, parrot or starling also work well.

	Spider

F	Flat over thorax hackle legs Although this is a nifty way of representing legs on a fly, particularly a nymph, it is not used very often. Flat over thorax legs

Flat over thorax hackle legs

Although this is a nifty way of representing legs on a fly, particularly a nymph, it is not used very often.

Flat over thorax legs

Divided hackle egs

Divided hackles are either hackles that have first been tied in beard style and then separated or are individual hackle fibres such as those in my nymph that are tied along each side of the thorax.

	Chatto's nymph

H	Knotted hackle legs Single and multiple hackle fibres make very realistic legs when first knotted and then tied along the side of a fly.From time to time, particularly if your tying hopper type flies, you will come across a recipe that calls for knotted hackle legs. The most common hackle used is pheasant tail and if you have big fingers like me you can find it very hard to tie the knot. If you follow the following the following process becomes much easier. Chatto's leggy wake fly

Knotted hackle legs

Single and multiple hackle fibres make very realistic legs when first knotted and then tied along the side of a fly.From time to time, particularly if your tying hopper type flies, you will come across a recipe that calls for knotted hackle legs. The most common hackle used is pheasant tail and if you have big fingers like me you can find it very hard to tie the knot. If you follow the following the following process becomes much easier.

Chatto's leggy wake fly

Matuka type tails

If your looking for hackles for a matuka tail the best option is hackles a round round tip rather than a pointed tip.

	Matuka

Hair tails for wet flies

There are many different barbules or fibres used as tail material for flies.

	Blue & teal

Split tails - hair or hackle

Split hackle tails are used for a number of types of flies particularly spinner ans mayfly representations.

	Spinners

Last Updated: February 2, 2011

Author: StephenChatterton

Categories: Free fly tying

Tags: Free fly tying