Everyone who reads this blog knows that I love soft hackle flies. I love the way they work through the water and the way this traditional fly looks in the vise. I don't get goofy with beads and rubber legs. I want something that looks like an insect that lives in my stream. My boxes are full of them but this past year four did most of the work for me.
The Yellow and Partridge - This is my summertime fly whether I'm on the Swift, EB or Millers. Yellow thread for the body on size 16 and smaller and yellow floss on larger sizes. Some olive rabbit or Australian possum for the thorax and a SPARSE hackle collar does it. This fly gets things going during the sulphur season on the Swift especially during the late afternoon.
Forget the camera hog partridge and orange that found it's way into the picture with my Olive and Partridge flies. The Olive and Partridge never seemed to work for me on the Swift BUT it's a great pattern on the Millers and the EB. In fact, this pattern works great in larger sizes like a 10 or an 8 on fast EB water. Olive thread or floss depending on fly size, brown rabbit for the thorax and sparse partridge for the hackle. Tying this in a size 8 lets you use up some of those oversized hackles that you have hanging around.
The Pink Partridge - pink floss for the body, dark grey rabbit for the thorax and then sparse partridge. This fly got it's start when I bought some spools of floss at Mike's Deerfield Fly Shop last summer. I bought a spool of pink and began to wonder why I did that when I thought that it may look good on a SH. It did look good and it worked well on the EB and the Millers. I didn't fish it on the Swift but I will this year.
Partridge and Orange - Really dependable with that orange kevlar body in the larger sizes and still effective with orange waxed thread in the smaller sizes. You just can't beat this fly EXCEPT the Yellow and Partridge will nose it out during the summer.
Start tying!
Ken
11 comments:
Nice flies there Ken.
They do capture trout.
Thank you Brk Trt! You would know!!
Ken
Ken,
Great post (once again). I was thinking that a partridge and yellow would work great for sulfurs. What sizes do you like to carry for the swift?
Second question. What types of insects do you think partidge and olive works for? You had a similar fly shown for the Quill Gordon but with a darker hackle.
Mike
Ken,
I get variants of: green, yellow and orange. Why does pink work? Does pink function as an attractor?
Dave
Very nice flies Ken. The SH produces some of the most vicious strikes of the year for me. And I like tying them.
Mike C.
My SH flies for the Swift tend to go to 16 (mostly) and the 18.
The partridge and olive works for the BWO and also most others such as march browns. I like darker patterns in the early mayfly season. The one that you saw from the earlier post works well.
David Burke,
The traditional hendrickson nymphs and dries had pink in them because the insects have a pinkish cast to them. Why not!
Mike from the Deerfield fly Shop,
Vicious strikes and fun to tie. What more do we want!!!
Ken
Ken,
I always love your insight. I'm just getting started with soft hackles and wonder how do you fish them? People have told me they fish them at a 45 degree angle across the current and let them swing. Others have told me they dead drift them as long as possible and end with a swing. How do you yourself fish a soft hackle?
NH-trout-bum
NH trout bum,
I fish them both ways but prefer the swing approach. It's more fun that way!
Ken
Thank you for the reply. Catching trout on the swing is a lot of fun! How is the Millers this time of year? Especially given that the temps have been in the 40s and will be for about the next week.
Forget the Millers until April. Too high, too cold and too much ice!
Ken
Will do!
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