I am a fan of the parachute hackle. Easy to tie, durable, lands correctly and with an effective footprint as well. To be honest, most of my hackled dry flies now sport the parachute. On the small streams I tend to fish in the UK, if there are one or two rises to be seen, I will happily prospect with a dry fly - usually a parachute emerger. Casting though likely riffles and runs, I still
However, there are the days when you are met with rising fish that are being super-choosy, picking off duns as they float by. A perfect cast, gentle touch down, zero-drag with the fly travelling right over their visual window - and they still refuse. Your parachute-hackled dun that usually sees you using the net, or a least lifting a fish, seems to suddenly be met with trepidation and suspicion. A change to a smaller size or different colour may do the trick. Or perhaps change the design of the fly? It is in these circumstances that reverting to a traditionally hackled dry fly may see your success rate return.
Flies with a traditionally wound hackle have a very different footprint on the water. The body of the fly may not even touch the water - the 'footprint' will be mainly tails and hackle tips - much like high-riding dun. With a parachute fly, the body will sit low and in the surface with more substantial footprint. Perfect for when the fish become engrossed on a spinner fall.
The genetic hackles we have come to use regularly can sometimes be a nuisance when tying traditionally hackled flies - with razor sharp barbs that may cut through the surface film. However, such is the density of the hackles available, with a little floatant, they will ride very high - perfect for fooling those wary, parachute-refusing fish. Any negatives in genetics are far out weighed when you consider the flexibility, thin diameter, number of barbs and length of each feather. When fishing Mayfly imitations, the combination of this hackle type along with long, slender, delicate tails gives a footprint that surely no trout could refuse.
I approach my tying of these two styles very differently. For my parachute flies, unless I am tying them for very boisterous water, I like to use minimal turns of hackle. I think tyers often over -hackle these. I will usually aim for just two or three turns of the hackle when hackling around a post: this easily gives sufficient surface area for the fly to hold in the surface film.
With the traditional hackle, I like to employ more turns to give the fly a substantial thorax of hackle - imitating wings and legs whilst hopefully imparting some movement. The body of these flies will be obscured by refraction of light through the surface. So the busy hackles are all important to provide that footprint trigger. In addition, I like to use long tails for my mayflies. If I am tying very long tails (as endorsed by British angler, Ron Holloway) I will use microfibbets. If opting for slightly shorter appendages, hackle barbs are fine - however I prefer Coq de Leon for its subtle colouration. Most importunately they will 'give' when a fish takes it. This reduces the chances of the fly bouncing out of their mouths as may happen when using stiff microfibbets.
Be sure to check out Dave's blog at: http://www.davewiltshireflytying.blogspot.com/
So, with that in mind, a selection of mayfly patterns are called for, with a section of the fly box devoted to those traditionally hackled dry flies. Make sure you carry both types with you and increase your chances success when the up-wings are hatching.
This week’s typing tip is in response to a question by Hatches reader, Nick S. from Boise, ID. Nick wanted to know if we had any suggestions for a small, lightweight fly tying vise to use streamside, or on backcountry fly-in/ hike-in fly fishing trips.
GLOBE PEQUOT ( THE LYONS PRESS, FALCON), November 1997
Binding Type: Hardcover
Retail Price: $16.95 at the Hatches Store
ISBN: 1-55821-067-9
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