Soft Hackle Streamers
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Anyone fishing soft hackle streamers? I am particularly interested if anyone is using them for warmwater species like bass and panfish and in stillwater. Any recommendations on some patterns to try and where I can pick some up (don’t tie myself yet)? I have seen Jack Gartside’s site and like the looks of his flies, but they are pretty darn expensive. I would be ticked if I lost a $5.00 – $6.00 fly to a tree or bush fish.
Shane,
Soft Hackle in general is great for warm water patterns. Try and google search Schlappen http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=schlappen&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8. That is the big wide and webby tail feathers that the warm/saltwater guys use and it basically means the same thing as “soft hackle” (more traditionally saddle (but that is getting pretty blurred now with just about any kind of feather growing on the saddles)). Also, search out Whiting Farms (or other manufacturers) http://www.whitingfarms.com/ and go to the American Line of hackle http://www.whitingfarms.com/prod_am.html. This is the webby soft hackle that is perfect for warm water.
Lee Church and I have been discussing a similar topic on the Tying Board here http://www.itinerantangler.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?num=1231477916
If you don’t tie, then try and look for saltwater patterns on the internet or your local fly shop – I use tarpon flies for bass all the time and the Borski bonefish slider is a great bluegill/crappie fly (although it more of a deer hair fly vs soft hackle). Also, do you tie wooly buggers? If so, just get a big schlappen feather and palmar it in around the chenille – very easy and effective way to start. Finally, you can get some pseudo-hair chenille, which is basically what I use to tie my braided worms (see fly tying section) and you can palmar that stuff in to just about any streamer pattern to give the webby soft hackle look.
I have a feeling you will be tying your own soon . . . there just aren’t a lot of big buggy warm water patterns out there for purchase right now (but it is getting better). And, as you mentioned, they are expensive to buy (but cheap to tie).
A few examples from my bench.
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