Inspired by fly-tyers from years gone by in the north of England on the rivers flowing from the Penines, these soft hackle patterns are tied simply with thread, tinsel and a hackle feather.
I like to tie these fairly large in sizes 16, 14 and 12 although larger, and indeed smaller, hooks can be used with some success depending on target species and river conditions.
The hackle can be of many origins including my choices, partridge, grouse, guinea fowl and hen / rooster.
Traditionally the hackles are tied sparsely, perhaps just a single wrap, but I prefer them to be less sparse – depending on the feathers that are available to me. Both ways can be as successful as each other.
Although the origins of this style of fly are certainly in the Brown Trout and Grayling fishing community, I fish them for Chub.