Soft Hackle Streamer

[Izaak]

Not quite a wingless wet, but close enough. Jack Gartside's Soft Hackle Streamer. Very effective, easy to tie, and looks great in the water! This very fly took a really nice smallmouth bass last evening....on the first cast!


DSCN4296 by flympher, on Flickr

DSCN4298 by flympher, on Flickr
Hook: Mustad C70DC, size 4
Thread: Ultra thread, 210 denier, fluorescent chartreuse
Hackle: Chartreuse and white marabou
Flash: Pearl flashabou

[letumgo]

Excellent fly, Tom. I plan to give this a try shortly. Thanks for sharing.

I tye a similar tricolored fly called a "Spectrum Leech". It is a variation with the colors of a leech (burnt orange/green/dark olive). This fly has been extremely effective on steelhead and smallmouth bass.




Spectrum Leech - Soft Hackle Streamer
Hook - DoIt Spinner Bait Hook (Model 455/Size 4)
Thread - UNI-Thread (Rusty Brown) Size 6/0
Rear Body - Burnt Orange Marabou
Flash - Bronze Flashabou (2 strands folded in half)
Middle Body - Moss Green Marabou
Flash - Bronze Flashabou (2 strands folded in half)
Front Body - Sculpin Olive Marabou
Dark body streaks - Peacock Herl
Head - Tying Thread

[Izaak]

Ray,

WOW! That thing looks real! Terrific color combination. I'll have to tie some up. Thanks!

By the way, how durable is the peacock herl on this fly?

Tom

[William Anderson]

Fellas now this is a very cool thread. Brilliant so far. Let's see a few more. With recipes please.

[Mataura mayfly]

Really cool streamer/ soft hackles guys. I do not know if mine qualifie as a soft hackle as such and we don't have the warm water species that agressivley hit these kinds of flie in the water.
But you just got to love the jumble of untidy marabou all bunched on a hook when it's dry and how it transforms once wet.

Thi is one I use as a baitfish imitation for brown/searun trout in the lower reaches of some of our rivers. As the browns can be a bit more lethargic in their dining habits I tend to tie on long shank hooks or tie a small trailing hook to stop "tail nipping" short takes.



This i on some kind of cheap 4X long hook #8 that I dont remember the make of, body of some craft store sparkley synthetic wool (wrapped and teased a little), various colours of marabou are tied in up the shank as the body is wrapped and there are two brown hackle feather + some flash tied in behind the eyes (which are plastic beads on 25lb mono melted to hold the beads).

So, yes, more a streamer than a soft hackle and I might tie up some for next season more to the style of the ones above.

Here it is wet.

[ashley]

Nice thread, I particulary like this fly as it brings back memories of Striper fishing and on the one occasion I got to watch Jack tie. While he was tying this fly is explained the back ground of the fly, as well as the way he ties it and why. Of particular interest will be that he was basing the design of the fly on the old hackled north country wet flies.

[Izaak]

Ashley,

That IS interesting! From the little I have read from him he did seem to recognize the effectiveness of soft hackled flies. His flies have always seemed to make a lot of sense to me, that is, there was a well-thought out reason for each design, and that was able to create these simple but brilliant flies has been an inspiration to me. Wish he were still here...

Tom

[Roadkill]

Indeed, I have always considered this a wingless wet soft hackle as the marabou is wound as a hackle instead of a clump wing.

http://www.jackgartside.com/step_soft_hackle_flies.htm

[letumgo]

Here is another Gartside soft hackle streamer pattern I tye. This one is called a "Fishfinder", and it is very seductive in the water. When I look at the design of this fly, marabou seems like a beautiful material to work with (tons of motion in the water, soft texture so that fish may hold onto the fly longer, cheap and easy to get, substantial profile/bulk without adding lots of weight to the fly, etc.). I like the simplicity of these flies and how easily it can be modified (change size, shape, color, etc.). They are very similar in construction to some of the flatwing streamer flies, only a lot softer.

Gartside's Fishfinder Soft Hackle Streamer

Hook - Do-It Spinnerbait Hook (Model 455/Size 4 or 2)
Thread - White UNI-Thread (6/0)
Tail - Four Grizzle Streamer Hackles
Body - Two Marabou Plumes/Cream Colored (tyed in by the tip, folded and wrapped forward)
Collar - Wood Duck (tyed in by the tip, folded and wrapped in front)
Head - White tying thread coated with clear nail polish

After you have tyed in the grizzly hackle tail, pick out a nice soft (whispy) marabou plume. I like to remove any fibers at the base of the plume that look matted or are too bulky. Now carefully pull back the fibers on each side of the marabou plume until you find the center stem and the tip of the plume. pull back the fibers on each side to expose the last inch of the plume. I then lay the plume over the fly with the tip fibers pointed over the back of the fly and tye it onto the hook. Advance your thread forward to the eyeof the fly to get it out of the way. Now, pinch the base of the marabou plume by the base of the feather with your right hand (assuming your right handed). Use your left hand to stroke the fibers of the marabou all to one side. Pinch the fibers back with your left hand and start to wrap the stem of the plume around the shank of the hook. As you wrap forward, you will need to continuously stroke the fibers backwards to keep them from getting trapped under the stem. Continue forward until you run out of plume. At this point, back off your tying thread and then secure the stem of the marabou plume. I then take a bodkin and make sure that all of the marabou fibers are free to move towards the back of the fly. Repeat this process with a second plume of marabou and the collar material.

It may sound complicated, but it is quite simple. It is basically the same technique used to form soft hackle flies (this is just done with marabou). The only trick is to keep messing with the fibers to pull them back out of the way after each wrap. If you lightly moisten the marabou fibers, it may make them easier to control.

Tying Sequence Shown in Photos:

[Kelly L.]

I love all the flies in this thread. Well done! These are all wonderful.