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Tying on the hackle
Tying on hackle seems to be one of the most daunting challenges facing the new fly-tyer. Perhaps it is because of the rather magical transformation that occurs, from the flat, little feather to the three dimensional structure that is formed once the hackle is wound onto the hook-shank. But it really isn't that difficult.
Before we begin you need to know two definitions: first, a barb is the individual 'fibre' of a feather. Second, the gape of a hook is the distance between the hook-point, and the hook-shank. You need to know this because you want to select a feather where the barb is between one and one and a half times the length of the gape of the hook you are tying on to. There is no need to get out the micrometer here, use your eye, and look for a feather with a barb length either the same as the gape, or preferable that little bit bigger.
So, we will assume that you have dubbed a body onto your hook-shank. As a (very) rough rule of thumb, you want to leave space of round a fifth to a quarter of the length of the body on the hook-shank on which to tie the hackle. This is one of the most crucial areas of fly tying, and one of the most difficult to get right. Many beginners - and not so beginners - tend to 'crowd' the eye of the hook. It is the equivalent of the sprinter lunging too soon for the finish line! Practice will help you get this right, and you will realise how important it is when we cover tying off and finishing the fly. You need to leave room to do this or all your hard work will literally come undone!
1: Strip the barbs from the bottom 7 - 10 mm of the hackle. Hold the hackle to the hook-shank at the end of the dubbed body with the duller side of the feather facing you. Aim to form an angle of around 45 degrees.
2: Wind a turn of thread tightly round the bare stem of the feather, immediately below where the barbs begin.
3: Wind three or more turns of thread around the stem, moving towards the eye of the hook. Here you are tightly binding the stem of the hackle to the hook-shank.
4: Clasp the tip of the hackle in your hackle pliers, keep a gentle pressure and wind the hackle around the shank two or three times, each moving towards the eye.
5: Holding the hackle pliers with one hand, take the bobbin holder with the other and trap the hackle stem against the shank with a turn of thread. Take two more turns.
6: Take your good scissors and carefully snip off the hackle as closely to the hook-shank as you can safely manage. If you hear your hackle pliers clatter to the table top that isn't so bad. But if it's your bobbin holder, you've done it wrong.
7: Tie off the fly - see the next section ribbing.
Before we begin you need to know two definitions: first, a barb is the individual 'fibre' of a feather. Second, the gape of a hook is the distance between the hook-point, and the hook-shank. You need to know this because you want to select a feather where the barb is between one and one and a half times the length of the gape of the hook you are tying on to. There is no need to get out the micrometer here, use your eye, and look for a feather with a barb length either the same as the gape, or preferable that little bit bigger.
So, we will assume that you have dubbed a body onto your hook-shank. As a (very) rough rule of thumb, you want to leave space of round a fifth to a quarter of the length of the body on the hook-shank on which to tie the hackle. This is one of the most crucial areas of fly tying, and one of the most difficult to get right. Many beginners - and not so beginners - tend to 'crowd' the eye of the hook. It is the equivalent of the sprinter lunging too soon for the finish line! Practice will help you get this right, and you will realise how important it is when we cover tying off and finishing the fly. You need to leave room to do this or all your hard work will literally come undone!
1: Strip the barbs from the bottom 7 - 10 mm of the hackle. Hold the hackle to the hook-shank at the end of the dubbed body with the duller side of the feather facing you. Aim to form an angle of around 45 degrees.
2: Wind a turn of thread tightly round the bare stem of the feather, immediately below where the barbs begin.
3: Wind three or more turns of thread around the stem, moving towards the eye of the hook. Here you are tightly binding the stem of the hackle to the hook-shank.
4: Clasp the tip of the hackle in your hackle pliers, keep a gentle pressure and wind the hackle around the shank two or three times, each moving towards the eye.
5: Holding the hackle pliers with one hand, take the bobbin holder with the other and trap the hackle stem against the shank with a turn of thread. Take two more turns.
6: Take your good scissors and carefully snip off the hackle as closely to the hook-shank as you can safely manage. If you hear your hackle pliers clatter to the table top that isn't so bad. But if it's your bobbin holder, you've done it wrong.
7: Tie off the fly - see the next section ribbing.
Bind down the hackle
Wind the hackle and bind down.