Fred,
Soft hackles are killer flies imitating caddisflies and some mayflies. Tying is easy – just a body with soft hackle, usually partridge. Here are a few combinations that work for me:
Partridge & Pheasant tail (rib w/ fine copper wire)
Partridge & Hare Ear (rib w/ fine copper wire)
Partridge & Peacock Herl (rib w/ fine gold wire)
Partridge & Olive
Partridge & Tan
Starling & Black
Partridge & Orange
Partridge & Yellow
You can’t fish it wrong: On the surface film with dabbed with floatant like an emerger, swinging in the current, and on the bottom like a nymph.
The way I like to tie in the partridge (or other soft hackle) is to strip the fibers from one side of the feather and wrap 2 or 3 turns of hackle. Keep the body slim and the hackle rather sparse. You can use a wet fly hook or a scud hook. I tie some using some lead wire for when I want to fish it deeper. You can tie them size #12-20.
http://www.danica.com/flytier/steps/poe/poe.htm
I often use a soft hackle as the upper fly above my nymph(s) in a two or three fly dropper rig. Or, tie on a dry with a SH dropper. You can try to match hatches (caddis or mayfly) using a SH of the same size and color of the naturals. Often times, the wet fished in the film or just under the surface catches more fish than a dry. Good luck.
