Double Soft Hackle

Multiple Colors in One Fly

Soft hackles appeal to me because they are the epitome of not having rules in fly tying.  Almost any feather can be used for a soft hackle, and the color range only depends on how many different colors of dubbing, tinsel and yarn you can find.  Instead of getting into a lot of specific materials, I wanted to focus on techniques for this fly.  I show how to prop up a tail, spin a tightly wound body that shows segmentation, and how to wrap two hackles at the same time.  The beauty of this one is that you can change colors and sizes to somewhat match the bugs in your water.  Let your creative juices flow with this one!

Tips - 

• The dubbing I used for this is fox squirrel that I shaved off of a pelt.  The video for the technique is found HERE.  I use plain squirrel from the back half of the animal for the body of this fly.  For the thorax, I use the material that I shaved off of the top part of the pelt (for shorter fibers) mixed with cinnamon ice dub.
• I used UTC 70 for this fly, but you can also use Danville 70, Uni 8/0, Veevus 14/0, or MFC 8/0.
• Any hook can be used...  I just like the stubby nature of the 1530.

~Cheech

Material List

Add to Cart

View in store

Hook: Daiichi 1530 - Heavy Wet Fly Hook - 12     
Thread: UTC Ultrathread 70 Denier - Yellow     
Tail: Whiting Coq De Leon Rooster Cape - Medium Pardo     
Body: Whole Squirrel Skin - Natural Fox     
Mix with Body Dub: Ice Dub - UV Cinnamon     
Hackle 1: Whiting 4B Hen Cape - Brown     
Hackle 2: Whiting 4B Hen Cape - White Dyed Yellow     



Other tools from the tutorial:

Rite Bobbin - Half-Hitch

Loon Gator Grip Dubbing Spinner

C&F Design Hackle Pliers

Dual Threat Sculpin

Add Some Meat to Your Dead Drift Game

I really like sculpins - We're talking about how much Curtis likes computers, so it's kind of a big deal.  It's true that they are the bottom dwelling slimy creatures that scour the bottoms of most western trout streams, but big trout love to eat them.  I have played with a lot of different sculpin variations through the years, and there are two things that I have decided I like in a sculpin - they need to ride close to the bottom, and they need to have a fat head with a skinny body, tapering of course .  This being said, an inverted hook, and proper material selection are critical to achieve maximum bottom hugging and tapered slithering ability.  My best sculpins have been the El Sculpito and the Belly Scratcher Sculpin because they both have these characteristics of having good taper and riding low in the water column.  I usually fish those flies with a slight cast upstream, dead drift for a little bit, and then start to strip once it's directly across to slightly downstream from me.  Swinging them has been really good as well.  After fishing these for years, I realized that I'd love a bug that looked more natural in the water on the dead drift part of my presentation.  OR...  Maybe make a bug that I could dead drift all the time and have it ride horizontally.  Even more, I had thoughts of fishing a big nasty sculpin on the bottom of a tight line nymph rig with 2x tippet and hanging a pink squirmy wormy about 20" above it.  THAT - is the definition of a filthy nymph rig.  I went through lots of hooks and styles before it hit me like a ton of bricks on day while I was tying balanced damsels for high mountain lakes.  I needed to tie it "balanced" style.  As I searched for the proper extension pin, I realized that I could just cut a shank, lash it on there really tight, and then I'd still be able to fish it non-balanced style as well.  Kind of a dual threat! If you are thoroughly confused what all this "balanced" stuff means, the video below will clear all that up.

Tips for tying - This bug really isn't super complicated at all, just a bit time consuming.  Make sure to pay attention on the part of the video where the hook is lashed to the shank.  If it's not done properly the shank will pull off of the hook.  Also with the zonker strip, I feel that tapering the magnum strip is critical to this fly because if you don't, you will be missing out on taper and movement in the back section of the fly.  Also, there have been some minor changes to the pattern that I prefer.  I have been using black and orange double pupil eyes instead of yellow, and I officially upgraded to a size 2 hook for this one to increase the hook gap.  The overall length of the fly is the same, just bigger gap.  

Lastly...  I had been battling a cold, so please forgive all the coughing in the video;)

Happy drifting with the dirty bird rig.

~ Cheech

Dual Threat Sculpin - Olive

Add to Cart

View in store

Hook: TMC S506H Specialty Jig Hook - 2     
Thread: Danville Flat Waxed Nylon Thread - 140 Denier - Olive     
Shank: Articulated Fish Spines - 25mm Shanks (24 pack)     
Eyes: Double Pupil Lead Eyes - Large - Black w/ Fl. Orange & Black     
Body: Cactus Chenille - Pearl - Medium     
Gills 1: Polar Reflector Flash Chenille - Olive     
Gills 2: Polar Reflector Flash Chenille - Blood Red     
Tail: Magnum Rabbit Strips - Olive Variant     
Fins: Kiley's Fish Finz - Mottled Olive - Large     
Head 2: Bruiser Blend Junior Dubbing - Brown Olive     
Head 2: Bruiser Blend Junior Dubbing - Pale Lemon     
Marker 1: Chartpak Fly Tying Markers - Black     
Marker 2: Chartpak Fly Tying Markers - Delta Brown (Dark Brown)     
Resin: Loon UV Clear Fly Finish - Thick (1/2 oz)     

Dual Threat Sculpin - Tan

Add to Cart

View in store

Hook: TMC S506H Specialty Jig Hook - 2     
Thread: Danville Flat Waxed Nylon Thread - 140 Denier - Tan     
Shank: Articulated Fish Spines - 25mm Shanks (24 pack)     
Eyes: Double Pupil Lead Eyes - Large - Black w/ Fl. Orange & Black     
Body: Cactus Chenille - Pearl - Medium     
Gills 1: Polar Reflector Flash Chenille - Tan     
Gills 2: Polar Reflector Flash Chenille - Blood Red     
Tail: Magnum Rabbit Strips - Gold Variant     
Fins: Kiley's Fish Finz - Mottled Brown - Large     
Head 2: Bruiser Blend Junior Dubbing - Alpha Wolf     
Head 2: Bruiser Blend Junior Dubbing - Cream     
Marker 1: Chartpak Fly Tying Markers - Black     
Marker 2: Chartpak Fly Tying Markers - Delta Brown (Dark Brown)     
Resin: Loon UV Clear Fly Finish - Thick (1/2 oz)     



Other tools from the tutorial:

Tiemco Deer Hair Scissors - Fine

Loon Ergo Bobbin

Stonfo Comb/Brush Tool

Loon UV Mega Light

Fly Tyer's Z-Ment