By Anthony Naples, on January 29th, 2010
There are numerous Fly Fishing related blogs that I enjoy visiting. Many of them have inspiring photos of trout and flies, and fishing destinations. These images can be a nice escape from the suburbs, a brief journey to another locale, a small trip to Montana, Utah, Wales, Wisconsin or elsewhere. So I thought it would be fun to use some of these photos as a jumping-off point for some sketches.
The first in this series, was inspired by a nice photo of some Soft-Hackle Brassies from the Winona Fly Factory blog. As a fly-tyer there is something so satisfying about looking at a neat row of newly tied flies, so full of hope and promise. Just what you need in the dead of winter.
Soft Hackle Brassies by Anthony Naples, inspired by photo from Winona Fly Factory
Note: Sketch done with Sketchbook Mobile on an iPod touch, with some post-processing in Photoscape
By Anthony Naples, on April 22nd, 2009
Green and Partridge Soft Hackle
Classic Wet Fly: Green and Partridge Soft Hackle
Hook: Standard Light Wire Dry Fly or Stout Wet Fly Hook, sizes 12 to 20
Abdomen: Green Floss
Rib: Fine Copper Wire
Thorax Hare’s Ear Dubbing
Collar: Hungarian Partridge
Notes: Use light-wire standard dry-fly hooks for some and stout wet fly hooks for others. This will give you the ability to fish in the surface film, or deeper depending on the hook.
The thorax of hare’s ear dubbing should be dubbed large enough so that it can support the soft hackle -the thorax is there primarily to prevent the partridge hackle from collapsing against the body.
I like the effect of using a copper rib for the appearance of segmentation – not all tyers do this. I feel more confident fishing it with the ribbing though.
Make sure to tie the partridge in very sparse – stripping the hackle fibers from one side of the feather can help to keep it sparse.
Fishing Notes: I’ve used this fly successfully for both Blue-Winged-Olive and caddis hatches. In the case of the BWO hatch, I fish it dead-drifting just below the surface – generally with no added movement.
For caddis hatches I fish it in more varied ways: dead-drifting, swinging, rising. Let the situation dictate the action – try different tactics till you figure it out.
