Soft Hackle flies for yellows

[Korrie]

It works right thru the year.
All you need to do is vary the pattern.
For mayflies, much sparser. For Caddis, later in the afternoon, more body.
What you can do, is to put a little tungsten bead on the point fly, to get it down, 2mm will do the trick.
I think the Vaal will warm up quite quickly from now on.
Chris, mentioned a book by Syl Nemes.
He popularized wet flies, soft hackles etc.
He wrote 3 books.
His friend, Dave Hughes, wrote a book : Wet Flies: Tying and fishing Soft hackles, Winged and wingless wets, and fuzzy nymphs.
It is a comprehended version of soft hackled writing.
A definite and highly recommendable read, if you are planning to expand your soft hackle reportoire.

A very famous Italian fly fisher who visited the country a couple of years ago had the following to say about soft hackles. (in a thick italian senorous voice)
"Softa hackle flies, it isa probaly the mosta effectva way to catcha da fish"
I tend to agree with him.

Soft hackles can be fished as dries as well.
Apply a bit of floatant and fish upstream as normal dry fly, the shape will look like a trapped, crippled emerger.

[jock0]

Fish soft hackles across and down for some serious fun.
Especially under trees.
Also try the across and down, for the last half hour of light.
Fished as emerging caddis's the takes can be very hard.
This way is very seldom fished as most of us are on the way back home.
But if you are at the water the last hour or so, try a bit of across and down.
Put 2 flies on about 75 cm apart.
Don't cast more than 30 degrees from the river's flow across.
This could make the flies swing to fast.
This technique can be used in water that is flowing very fast to some slow moving pools. Deadly in any situation.

What you've described definitely works an absolute treat and makes for an enjoyable alternative to SLN. The takes are very savage and if you dont have your wits about you you'll easily get snapped off on the take.

I've generally been using "two tone" style soft hackles with a lighter body and darker hackle, but after reading some comments from some of the other guys I'm keen to try what is basically a black brassie with a CDC collar this season.

There are some awesome ideas for the vaal in the thread we did for the soft hackle swap earlier this year. Different hook options, hackling materials and techniques, weighting etc

[Johan Janse van Rensburg]

Sage thats some pretty nice flies!!!! Welcome to the forum as well, as you can see you will learn something new everyday.

Korrie thanks for your insight!!!!

[Sage]

Thanx alot, I can see there are plenty people on this forum with a lot of knowledge and skills. Korrie's input has been most illuminating. This forum is a good thing!

[Scythe]

Good advice given all around, nothing to add really aside from reiterating that across and down or your typical Leisenring lift approach to SH flies during a hatch can be a lot of fun and makes for a great alternative to the other more tried and tested approaches.

It's like asking, why do you want to use any other fly when a hot spot nymph will work ... the answer is simple ... because you CAN !

I also have to second (or is it third or fourth) great flies.

[Korrie]

Try the following.
Cast upstream with the flies. (rig 2 flies about 40 to 50cm apart on a normal dry fly leader)
Cast upstream as you would with dry flies.
Once they have pierced the surface, let them drift back normally, or retrieve slightly faster than the natural drift, and then let naturally drift, or as they drift back(submerged) get a slight Alzheimers tremor on your rod tip. Lifting the rod tip as your flies drift back. Keeping the slightest of tension on the leader.
The slight retrieve or tremor will give the hackles a pulsating movement.
Don't worry about drag etc. Drag is good, it is your friend in these fishing conditions. The fish can't leave these little tidbits alone.
The takes are normally a very positive "VAS".
Give us some report back on your experiences.

[Sage]

Busy packing my kit, going to hit the Vaal today with a couple of mates. Weather is looking good and we've had some good weather as well so things are looking good. Hope we can entice a couple of fish to the fly. Will let you know this evening how it went.

[Gerrit Viljoen]

The majority of fly boxes usually host the "usual suspects" for yellows, proven patterns that produce consistent results.

The other day while fishing for trout with one of my favorite style patterns, a soft hackle mayfly pattern in size 16, I wondered if it would work for yellows. I couldn't see why not, any caddis or mayfly pupa rising to the surface to emerge tucks it's legs in tight and forms itself into a nice hydrodynamic shape. A soft hackle fly's profile imitates this profile very efficiently and we all know of the hatches we see on the Vaal.

I believe that this style fly deserves a place in the box and has the ability to produce good results. Soft hackle variations are endless. I've attached a couple of patterns (#16) I've tied up using a variety of components, goose biot, peacock hearl, dubbing and hackle that includes partridge and Brahma hen. One of the patterns shows the inclusion of a 5/64" tungsten bead.

I hope these patterns stimulate the imaginative side of tyers that leads to the production of patterns that may provide an edge on already pressured waters.

Vital Statistics:
Hook: TMC 3761 (size 16 - 18)
Thread: Danville 6/0 (70 denier)
A good book on soft hackle flies: Tying & Fishing Soft Hackle Nymphs - Allen McGee

Happy tying! Paul

Paul,

Tell me I have some Brahma Hen Capes on my shopping list and was wondering where you got yours.

Well tied flies you have there!!

Cheers

[Korrie]

Hi Paul
How did the fishing go?

[Sage]

Hi Gerrit

Thanks for the compliments! The Brahma capes I have I acquired as a "buy one and get one free when I bought some capes through Lakeland flytying in the UK. I subsequently have gone back to get more but they are out of stock at the moment. They cost between £10.00 and £11.50. They are extremely soft and mottled and work a treat. A good substitute is a hen cape feather also soft but not rounded and more like a rooster feather but not as big. I haven't seen too many of these around either, not too many shops import them as they are either not popular or unknown. Lakeland has a good stock. Best thing about Lakeland is that their International shipping rate is only £2.50. They also have lots of other goodies. Take a look! www.lakelandflytying.com

Regards

Paul