Getting hackle to sweep backwards?

[luckydude]

I'm trying to tie again, first time since I was a kid (which was a lonnnnng time ago).

I tried tying up some wooly buggers to see if I can coax the local bass/panfish into hitting them (I tried with PT nymphs and hoppers, those work w/ trout but the bass just looked at them and shrugged).

Is there a trick that I've forgotten to get the hackle to wrap so the barbs flow backwards? Each time I try it does a half turn and the barbs all end up pointing forward. I'm typing it at the end of the hood the same way I'd do on a dry, and then wrapping forward and tying off.

Sorry for the stupid question, though I'm ecstatic I can tie at all, I've got what is called a benign tremor (my hands shake) and I thought it would be impossible. I think anything smaller than an 18 is not happening but I might be able to go that small which would rock. Starting big and working down.

[jbird]

Heres how I hackle all my buggers. Tie in the marabou tail. Tie in a length of ribbing and leave it hanging out the back. Tie in your body material and wrap your thread to the eye. Now wrap body material to the eye. Tie in your hackle AT THE FRONT OF THE FLY. (tie it in by the base stem of the hackle.) WRAP THE HACKLE BACK TOWARD THE TAIL. When you reach the base of the tail, take the ribbing you left hangign off the back and counter wrap it forward to lash down the hackle. This will give you the look you want and make your bugger extremely durable.

[luckydude]

Wow, a reply from the hawk guy - fantastic job on that, by the way, I've been there too, I nursed this guy back to health after catching him in my barn. He's still around too:

http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/photos/2008/02/3.html

On the bugger, I'm guessing it's wire, not tinsel because I think the first time it's in a fish the tinsel is toast. I'll give that a try, thanks!

On a different topic, where do people in the south bay go for materials?

[RAS]

Hey Luckydude,
Make sure you start with a soft hackle from a hen neck. Like Jbird I counter wrap, but with copper wire. Makes for a very durable fly.
RAS

[Darian]

luckydude,.... Getting back into tying in spite of a minor obstacle. Good for you....

I construct wooly buggers the same way Jbird does. Whether you choose to tie using a soft hackle as suggested or a saddle hackle (as I do) might depend on what type of water you'd like to fish and what you want the fly to accomplish. In fast water, a soft hackle tied in as in the example will lie flat against the body material and become part of it. In slow or frog water a soft hackle would tend to stand out and provide some action. A saddle hackle would be a better choice for fast water if you want the hackle to provide some action to the fly as it would not necessarily crush in the current....

There's a whole bunch of variants of wooly bugger patterns out there for all types of fish. Have fun....

[luckydude]

Well, that was cool, just got back from the ponds below Vasona in Campbell, caught a bunch of tiny bass on the first flies I've tied in maybe 20 years? Who knew, it's like riding a bike, comes back to ya.

The shakey hand thing is a bummer but people are pretty adaptable. So far, size 10 wooly buggers no prob, now on to size 12

[jbird]

Wow, a reply from the hawk guy - fantastic job on that, by the way, I've been there too, I nursed this guy back to health after catching him in my barn. He's still around too:

http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/photos/2008/02/3.html

On the bugger, I'm guessing it's wire, not tinsel because I think the first time it's in a fish the tinsel is toast. I'll give that a try, thanks!

On a different topic, where do people in the south bay go for materials?

Holy smokes! A Kestrel!!!! Extremely jealous!

Yes, I use wire ribbing. I also always use saddle feathers.(mostly the kind that are getting hard to find due to the new hair fads) No matter what kinda water Im fishing, I tie them the same, and they're flat deadly!

Something I started doing a couple years ago that really took my bugger success to the next level is using red hackle. Black buggers, brown buggers, olive buggers, rusty buggers...all have red hackle. I learned this when I fished with Brian Chan and it has blown the doors off of my previous patterns. Brown with red is by far my top producer.

[Jaybinder]

For materials try Orvis in San Jose or the California Fly Shop in San Carlos. There are shops in Monterey and Carmel but I've never been to either.

Jason

[Bob Arwine]

Hello Luckydude,
I just wanted to add to the other posts.
You did not say that you were using a rotary hackle plier to do your winding of the feather or what type of feather. Most feathers, like the ones that are still attached to the skin, will have a detectable curve in the shaft of the feather, this curve faces the skin. In addition, most feathers have a higher shine on the outside (the side that was away from the skin). When you want to have the feather web trail towards the tail of the fly you will want to make sure that you ty on the feather so that the side that is facing towards the tail is the side that was facing the birds skin. Rotary hackle pliers will make this much eaiser. I took your response to indicate that you were wrapping on the feather using your hand and not any tool. Webby feathers, most often, will give the results you are looking for. If you are trying to get the other result just ty in the feather the other way. When this topic comes up in one of my classes I will have my students ty mockups with feathers facing both directions (using hackle pliers) to see for themselves. Having the curce face forward will help create a fly that has more "drag" aero or hydro which many times, like for streamers or poppers is what you want.

[Jay Murakoshi]

Here's an "old timers" method of laying hackle fibers back. Once your hackle is tied in, grasp it by the butt and pull towards you. Then take you scissors (keep the blades closed)
run the scissors along the stem of the hackle a couple times. It should flare out the barbels. This will need to be done on both the right and left side.
Kinda hard to explain but once you see it happen it's easy

Jay