Wet fly vs. soft hackel

Acristickid

Acristickid

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Ok- what is the difference? Is the soft hackle supposed to fished any different? Do they mimic the same thing?

I know of the 3 fly leader with the use of stiff tag ends of blood knots. Any other designs you guys (and lady) use?

This came up on another board but wanted to see if I could learn a little more.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Paul
 
They certainly can represent the same things, just depends on how you tie. For me (although I'm not a huge wet fly guy) it is similar to a marabou streamer vs a muddler...the marabou will give it that lively movement, but in fast water will flatten down to look like a pin. If I'm fishing faster currents, I go with the wet to ensure the shape is intact...slower currents, I'll opt for the soft hackle to give it life. If I'm fishing just before a hatch of a mayfly that emerges before it swims up, I'll go the the wet fly to ensure the wings are pronounced.
 
In my oppinion a soft hackle is just a type of wet fly (like a snake is a reptile, but a reptile ins't neccesarily a snake).

They can be fished dead drifted, but I think wet flies are more suited for a swinging cross-current drift, or even one that you lift the fly to the surface or let it drop quickly. Mimicing emerging or egg laying insects.

I think the main difference between the flies themselves is body material and traditional wet flies have paired wings.
 
Mkern stole what I was going to say.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong Acrist., but I'm assuming he was referring to the traditional paired wing wet fly as simply "wet fly" just for the discussion of comparing the two styles. That was my take anyway...but you know what happens when you assume.
 
They are both very similar in that both are to be avoided if there is any hope of catching fish with surface flies. :cool:
 
I rather have a needle in my eye :-? Then listen to Jack talk about how he rather dry fly fish again :p
 
I seriously doubt if any trout that ever lived ever saw an insect that looked like a traditional down winged wetfly.The consensus use to be they were taken for small fish.
So fish them like small streamers and use the soft hackles to give the trout the impression something alive and good to eat is in his feeding zone.
Paint a picture for them.Pulsating,breathing and eminently eatable.
Let those who fish with plastic flies on the surface catch their plastic little stockers.TETO
 
I think they look a lot like emergers...and are fished as such...just a couple inches lower than we think of emergers now days....
 
Actually, many insects change from a nymph to a dun below the surface or near the stream bottom. Wet flies should be effective imitating these insects.

This chart is a great cheat sheet for hatches. The second to last column lists where the insect changes to a dun. The key is near the bottom of the page.

http://www.charlesmeck.com/hatchchart.html
 
They may change before emerging but do they have their wings held like a wet fly?
Back in the 60s before nymphs became the ``in'' fly,many attempts to study underwater emerging or spinners never showed wings held like traditional wets.
That was the main reason they lost favor.
 
David- yes. The chart afish put up shows that most BWO's change to a dun near the bottom. I don't think I knew that.
 
Pete wrote: “They may change before emerging but do they have their wings held like a wet fly?
Back in the 60s before nymphs became the ``in'' fly, many attempts to study underwater emerging or spinners never showed wings held like traditional wets.
That was the main reason they lost favor.”



Pete,

According to the bug books I read, the dun emerges completely on the bottom of the stream and fold their wings tight against its body. They then swim or drift to the surface, dry off their wings while floating on the surface, and fly away. It would hard to photograph this process unless you scuba-dive and take a photo when the insect is in the water.

Notable mayfly hatches that emerge on the bottom are: BWO, Quill Gordon, Hendrickson, Pale Evening Dun, and Golden Drake. In addition, caddis emerge as a pupa on the bottom and swim or drift to the surface to hatch.

I have a lot of luck drifting and swinging traditional wets and soft hackles before and during a hatch or sometimes just prospecting when no hatch is apparent. The fish are the only ones who really know, but I never argue with them.
 
Change to a dun near bottom but with wings tight against the body so they can streamline to surface.lol
They do not swim down and across as traditional wet flies are fished.
I wager the fish take them for minnows not insects but we will never know.
 
I always figured drowned adults and emergers. Minnows makes sense too.

I'll just say they are emergent Adamses and Royal Wulffs to stifle the argument. A fake bug that we made up. The day you show me a cheeto tree in the wild, I'll probably give you a hug... but after that, . Yet, I'll pound a bag of the things. It's all in the presentation, just ask Chester Cheetah.
 
Once again, the fly anglers give trout too much credit. Traditional wet flies look like food to trout often enough. They do not know the difference between a minnow and a nymph, let alone a winged-wet and a softhackle. It's all food, or not food, depending upon their present level of stupidity.
 
Jack wrote: “….It's all food, or not food, depending upon their present level of stupidity.”



Jack’s right about that. No one knows why trout (or any fish) chooses to hit a certain fly or a certain presentation at any given time. It’s really a mystery why the same hares ear fly I fished the other day with great success can’t buy a fish, and yet the prince nymph I tie on slays them today. Only the fish know, well they’re so stupid according to Jack, that I guess they don’t know why either.

I believe that fish sometimes get locked into feeding on certain things at certain times, like during a hatch, and shun other things. On other days they will hit anything that looks or acts like food, we all have had those days too. That’s one of the mysteries of FF for trout, and that’s what keeps me coming back to the stream to try again.


Pete wrote: “Change to a dun near bottom but with wings tight against the body so they can streamline to surface.lol”

Pete,

While I can’t say I have witnessed it, since I don’t scuba dive in trout streams, I find it very plausible that certain mayflies transform into duns below the surface as entomologists suggest. Haven’t you ever seen mayfly nymph shucks stuck to rocks at the bottom of the stream? I’ve seen thousands of them in my rock turning forays. As to what the trout think your fly represents, no one can answer that except with the general answer of something good to eat. I can tell you with certainty that caddis swim to the surface to hatch. Put a soft hackle on during a caddis hatch, let it swing in the current, and hang on!

I started fly fishing as a teen in the early to mid seventies. At the time, nymph fishing was just getting popular, yet wet fly fishing was still a common tactic. Of course there was no Internet, so to learn about FF, I read books that I got from the library. Most of the books were written in the 50’s & 60’s. The flies and methods described were mostly wet fly tactics, so that’s what I used – and I caught fish! I graduated to nymph fishing a little later on, but a few years ago I remembered how I used to catch fish with wet flies. I tried them again, and low and behold – I caught fish! I now include wet fly fishing in my repertoire of tactics. On certain days, in certain conditions, wet fly fishing is THE way to catch fish. Also, I find it a very easy and relaxing way to fish when I burn myself out trying to nymph.

One thing to add: Recently I made a trip to the Delaware during the Hendrickson hatch. The hatch was heavy but fish were rising only here and there because the water was being pounded by anglers with nymphs, dries, cripples, and emergers everywhere around me. I didn’t see many fish caught. I grew tired of alternating between nymphing and trying to cover rising fish 80’ out in the current, so I found a little riff, tied on a gang of wets, including a Hendrickson wet that has been in my box for more years than I can remember – guess what happened?!?
 
afishinado wrote:
... tied on a gang of wets... – guess what happened?!?

You got a lot of snags? :-D
 
I have been having fun with this-sorry it died out.
What I meant was the paired feathered wings as used on old style wets would be impossible for an insect to have under water-of course some mayflies unshuck their wings under water but they are flat until they pop the surface.Unless they used them as water wings-that stunk-okay-lol
Hate to think I agree with the Barrister but yeah-impressionistic-something alive-those plastic/rubber nymphs didn't work well.
 
quote]
JackM wrote:
Once again, the fly anglers give trout too much credit. Traditional wet flies look like food to trout often enough. They do not know the difference between a minnow and a nymph, let alone a winged-wet and a softhackle. It's all food, or not food, depending upon their present level of stupidity.[/quote]

Jack fish have feelings too, or don't they?
 
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