wrapping the hackle

[Norm Frechette]

when you wrap the hackle, does it come out nice like a spoked wheel or do the fibers seem to stick to each other and wrap unevenly?

any tips or tricks for getting that spoked wheel effect?

cheers

norm

[Jerry G]

Norm in wrapping my soft hackles most all feathers used from game or wild birds get the barbs stripped from the stem that will be closest to the hook shank. This seems to prevent some of the untidiness that you are experiencing. The barbs may still marry to one another and to improve on this I simply use my dubbing needle to separate them once the hackle has been wrapped. Chicken hackle on the other hand seems to be less of a problem. Please realize these hackle are only going to look organized until they are fished and then, well lets hope the fish find them attractive.

Regards, Jerry

[Soft-hackle]

Hi Norm,
After wrapping and tying off the hackle, give it a brush with a soft tooth brush to help separate the hackle fibers. Here's a great demo by Hans on wrapping.

http://www.danica.com/flytier/steps/poe/poe.htm

Practice makes perfect.

Mark

[skunkaroo]

I use the same technique described by Jerry, except I separate the barbs as I wrap--I find there's less chance of trapping fibres together when tying off. Stripping the leading edge helps, but it works as well for a folded full hackle.

Aaron

[Pat M]

Hi Norm,
After wrapping and tying off the hackle, give it a brush with a soft tooth brush to help separate the hackle fibers. Here's a great demo by Hans on wrapping.

http://www.danica.com/flytier/steps/poe/poe.htm

Practice makes perfect.

Mark

This is the method I've been using and I really like the results that I've been receiving.