Tying with Soft-Hackle
25 Years of Insight

by Rich Osthoff, Author of Active Nymphing
For more on tying and fishing soft-hackle flies go to www.richosthoff.com

Palmering with Soft-Hacke

I began tying Soft-Hackle Woolly Buggers and Woolly Worms more than 25 years ago as the first genetic hen necks and saddles hit the market. For the first time I had soft, webby hen hackle with sufficient feather length to palmer several turns around a chunky body. Soon I was tying and fishing super-buggy Woollies loaded with great prospecting attributes.

As a commercial tier, I’ve worked with hen necks from all leading breeders, and Whiting feathers are the longest—that means more turns around the body and a buggier, more densely hackled fly. Whiting hen necks also have exceptionally short hackle barbs relative to feather length, making them a great buy. I burn up a lot of size 12 to 16 Soft-Hackle in my commercial tying, and I can use the center two-thirds of a Whiting neck for palmering size 12 to 16 Woolly Worms and Mini-Buggers. Hen necks from other breeders yield few hackles for these sizes; their hackle is mostly larger. I do tie many sizable Buggers, but buying hen saddles, not hen necks, is the economical way to buy high-quality soft hackle in larger sizes.

Tips for Tying Soft-Hackle Woollies:

-I tail my Worm with a short tuft of rabbit hair from a rabbit hide or zonker strip.
-I tail my Bugger with the tip of a marabou blood quill and a few strands of flash.
-I palmer each Woolly with 2 hen hackles, so I dub and hackle the body in 2 stages.
-I dub a forward tapered body using 2/3 rabbit blended with 1/3 chopped Antron.
-I tie in hackles by tips, with top of feather facing the hook eye, and I palmer forward.
-I rake finished fly from head to tail with a nylon brush to marry hackle with teased dubbing.

NOTE: the Worm (a wet fly/nymph) has shorter hackle than the Bugger (a streamer). SEE PHOTOS; they demonstrate desired hackle size and shape for Worms and Buggers.

Palmering Guide for Soft-Hackle Woolly Worm
Wind a neck hackle over rear 1/3 of body.
Wind a neck hackle over front 2/3 of body.

Palmering Guide for Soft-Hackle Woolly Bugger
Wind a neck hackle over rear 2/3 of body.
Wind a saddle hackle over front 1/3 of body.

About Saddles: I prefer saddle hackle for the front of my Buggers; it’s super soft and webby and adds spey-like action. But even a long hen saddle feather palmers only 3 or 4 turns around a dubbed thorax, so I shoot to cover just the front 1/3 of a Bugger with a saddle hackle.

Soft-Hackle Buying Guide for Palmering
Necks: Whiting hen necks have exceptionally long feathers for hackling Worms and the rear 2/3 of Buggers. The feather count in the size 12 to 16 range is the best in the business.
Saddles: Whiting hen saddles provide soft, webby, and less expensive hackle for palmering the front 1/3 of Buggers. A typical saddle has hackle for Buggers ranging from size 2 to size 14.

Favorite Woolly Worm Sizes and Color Schemes
I tie and fish Worms mostly in sizes 12 and 16.
*Black Body/Grizzly Hackle/ Black Tail is my personal favorite.
*Black Body/Black Hackle/Orange Tail is another strong color scheme.
*Olive-dyed-Grizzly, Brown, Dun, and Cream are all useful neck colors.

Favorite Woolly Bugger Sizes and Color Schemes
I tie Buggers in sizes 4 to 14. I primarily fish sizes 6, 8, and 12. A Size 12 Mini-Bugger is my standard for spooky, clear-water trout. In dirty water, I jump to size 8. For big-river trout and smallmouth bass, I like size 6. I often add a brass conehead for more flash and a fast vertical drop.
*Black Body/Black Hackle/Black Tail with Silver Flash is my choice for dirty water.
*An all-white or cream Bugger with flash in the tail is a great baitfish imitation.
*Tan and brown saddles with dark mottling make great Buggers.
*My popular Bi-Bugger has a multi-tone Crayfish/Sculpin color scheme. Tail is black marabou over olive marabou with gold flash. Abdomen is olive dubbing with grizzly hackle. Thorax is black dubbing with black hackle.
NOTE: Since I dub and hackle in two stages, it’s simple to switch color schemes at the midpoint of the fly. You can easily create multi-tone Buggers in a range of colors.

Other Soft-Hackle Options for Palmering
Schlappen: Examine any rooster saddle; the long, webby hackle at the butt-end is Schlappen. It’s unsuitable for dry-fly use, but great for palmering Woollies. A single Schlappen feather is long enough to densely hackle an entire Woolly. Whiting cock saddles often have some Schlappen suitable for hackling Woollies in size 12 and smaller. Most other Schlappen is suitable for size 8 and larger. Schlappen can be purchased strung, in dyed and natural colors; the bulk of this material is best suited to large Buggers.
Rooster Breast, especially from Whiting, can be excellent Soft-Hackle. Whiting markets Chickabou patches from the undersides of roosters. For palmering, the useful feathers are not the small marabou-like plumes located at the rump end of the patch, but the attached breast feathers. They’re virtually interchangeable with hen saddle and have stronger stems.

Soft-Hackle for Collaring
-You don’t need long stems for collaring. Hackle color, mottling, softness, and barb length are more critical considerations.
-I collar steelhead and salmon flies with hen saddle. The soft, webby hackle moves wonderfully, and stem bulk is minimal.
-Hen necks provide excellent hackle for collaring even the smallest trout flies.

Soft-Hackle for Matuka Wings
Hen neck feathers make gorgeous Matuka Wings.

Soft-Hackle for Legging Nymphs
You can add inherent movement to any nymph pattern by palmering hen neck hackle over the thorax. Nymphs can be hackled in the round, or hackle can be trimmed or collapsed under a wing case to project from just the underside of the nymph.

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