9) Preparing and Wrapping a Wet Fly Hackle

Here you will learn about another type of hackle. Wet fly hackles are short but have long barbules. These hackles are tied on at the front of the fly. The fibers lean back over the fly and move about in the water. They give the fly an “alive” look. The skills taught in this section are needed when tying the Carey Special found in the caddis fly section. If you progress further in your tying, you will run across many flies that require this technique.

First you must choose the right kind of feather. There are many types of feathers that can be used. Here a pheasant rump feather is shown. Part the Barbules as shown and see how long they are. For the Carey Special the barbules should be at least as long as the hook or even slightly longer.

Next remove the webby fibers from the bottom.

Now hold the tip and pull back the lower barbules as shown. Do not pull back too many. The barbules pulled back should only be along about 1cm of the stem.

Examine the feather. You will notice that one side has a better colour. Also there is a curve to the feather.

1. Place the feather over the hook. The better-coloured side is up. You’ll also notice that the curve is over the hook (the concave side is down).
2. The point where the barbules are parted should be placed over the point where the previously wrapped material ends.

Pull back the barbules with your left hand and tie in the tip part with your right. Make sure it is wrapped in tightly or the feather will later slip out.

Snip off the extra tip material as shown. You are now ready to wrap the hackle.

Take hold of the stem, with your right hand, and pull straight up as shown.

Next, with the thumb and forefinger of your left hand, pull back the barbules as shown over the shank of the hook.

At this time the following should be emphasized. You will only need to do about two wraps (three at the most). Otherwise the body material will be completely covered. You only want a few barbules around the hook. As mentioned, the purpose of these fibers is to flutter in the water and give the fly an “alive” look.

Now move the stem over the hook for the first wrap. At one point you’ll need to let go of the barbules with your left hand. If any fibers spring out of control, don’t panic. Move the stem around the hook until you can gather in the barbules with your left hand again and pull them back.

Here you have gathered the barbules up again and are ready for the final wrap. The next wrap should be as close as possible to the first one (spiralling forward)

Here the second wrap is complete. If you have too many fibers left on the stem, you will need to pluck them off before tying off the hackle.

Wrap the bare stem around the hook a couple of times. If you need to, hold back the fibers with your left thumb and two fingers as you wrap.

Next tie off the stem (as shown in section 6). Clip off the excess.

When building the thread head, Make a few wraps over the bottom end of the hackle fibers. This will make them lie back and keep them from springing in every direction when you let go.

Here is the completed soft hackle.

If the hackle doesn’t want to lie back nicely, it is probably because it wasn’t tied in properly. If the concave side is placed up instead of down, The barbules will want to curve in another direction when you wrap the hackle.

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