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AKA: Dry fly hackle

Hackling a dry fly

The technique for selecting and tying in a dry fly hackle for a right handed fly tier is as follows.
If you are left handed please remember to switch the instructions around.

The ideal feather for a dry fly hackle should:

1. Be long so that you can tie a particularly heavily hackle fly with one hackle or several flies out of the one hackle.
2. Have as small an amount as possible of filoplume (soft marabou like fibers) at the butt end of the hackle because those soft marabou like fibers absorb water and that part of the feather is generally discarded as waste.
3. Have a high count of stiff individual barbules (individual feather fibers) of uniform length, along the full length of the quill, with no "lacing" or webbing between the individual barbules.

A	Select a hackle with barbules that are the length required for the fly. For a traditional dry fly the required barbules length is between 1.5 and 2 times the gape of the hook. Remove the filo plume (softer hackles) at the butt end of the hackle before proceeding. If necessary pinch the quill at the tie in point with tweezers to soften the quill.

B	Position the thread exactly where you want to tie the hackle in.

C	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 dull/underside. This is part of natures way of giving birds a streamlined surface to assist with flight and the shedding of water. For a dry fly the hackle is tied in with the dull/underside of the hackle facing forward so that when the hackle is wound forward or backward the barbules will have a natural tendency to slope forward. If the hackle were tied in with the shiny/top side facing forward the barbules would have a tendency to slope backward as in a wet fly. Hold the hackle along the side of the hook shank with the dull side toward you at the tie in point adjacent to the thread. The tip of the hackle should extend out above the fly and toward the rear and the butt end should extend below the fly and toward the front.

D	Now hold the hackle in place with your left hand and take 2 or 3 firm turns of thread to lock it into place and trim the butt end. The hackle should be at around 45 degrees to the hook shank and on the vertical plane not the horizontal plane. That is, from the side it should look like this. Take the thread forward to where the hackle will finish.

E	Wind the hackle forward in touching turns to the thread. If possible hold the hackle in your fingers and wind it forward by hand. By doing it by hand you will have more control. If necessary attach your hackle pliers to the tip of the hackle and use it to wind the hackle forward. It may be necessary to twist the hackle a little from side to side as you wind the hackle forward on the hook shank to compensate for any imperfections and ensure a uniform finish. When the hackle reaches the thread, whilst holding the hackle in place with your left hand or via the hackle pliers in the left hand take 2 or 3 firm wraps of thread where the last wrap of the hackle touches the shank of the hook and trim the tip off close to the shank of the hook using a sharp blade rather than your scissors.  It is better to use a sharp blade to trim hackle otherwise you run the risk of  cutting barbules off that should have been retained.

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