3 Effective Ways to Fish Soft Hackles
This gorgeous Yellowstone cutthroat fell for a swung tandem rig of weighted Soft Hackles. Photos: Kubie Brown
There’s an old saying that “old ways won’t open new doors,” but I couldn’t disagree more. While I risk sounding like a grumpy old man—I just turned 40—it seems like the more we try to modernize and update things with all this newfangled technology and innovation, the more we complicate what used to be simple. This is especially true with fly fishing.
I support and use all the cool new patterns, techniques, and equipment coming onto the market, but when I just want to go out and simply catch a fish, I turn back to the old ways. And it doesn’t get much older than the Soft Hackle.
Soft Hackle flies date back to Scotland and England in the late 15th century, and these simple patterns made with soft game-bird feathers wrapped around a hook to imitate a variety of aquatic insects, have been catching trout for centuries. These flies are timeless because they work, and no matter how modern or trendy your equipment or fly fishing style is, when it comes down to it, knowing how to fish Soft Hackles will help you catch more trout.
Soft Hackles come in a variety of patterns and weights, and you can create tandem rigs of any configuration of patterns.
Selecting Your Fly
Soft Hackles come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. From large, unweighted patterns meant to imitate small baitfish to tiny beadhead imitations designed to emulate caddis pupae, the flies cover the entire range of the trout-food spectrum. Yet to fish them effectively, you must use the right type of pattern in the right time and place.
Soft Hackles can be fished in a variety of different ways, from dead-drifting them through soft water like a dry fly, to bouncing them along the bottom like a nymph, to swinging them through the middle of the river like a streamer. However, no matter how you’re fishing them, the Soft Hackle pattern you choose needs to match the insects or other prey item you are trying to imitate.
Small, weighted Soft Hackle patterns such as the Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail or Soft Hackle Hair’s Ear, are ideal imitations of caddisflies and developing mayflies. These heavier flies work equally well in deep, slow water as well as in faster riffles where insect nymphs both live and emerge.
Unweighted Soft Hackle patterns like a Spider or even the classic Catskill Wet Fly were originally designed to be fished just under the surface. They’re ideal for fishing in shallow water and slow-to-medium currents when you see trout bulging beneath the surface on emerging insects. In addition, an unweighted Soft Hackle also works as a dropper off a dry fly when fish are hesitant to fully commit to surface feeding. In low, clear water, a single large, unweighted Soft Hackle like the Carey Special can also be stripped, drifted, and swung like a streamer to catch picky and spooky trout.
Rigging Soft Hackles
There are almost as many ways to rig Soft Hackles as there are patterns. However, the most effective setup is a tandem rig with two weighted patterns, which can be swung, drifted under an indicator, or fished on a tightline rig. When you’re fishing with two Soft Hackles at once, use two different sizes, with your lead fly being smaller and slightly lighter than the dropper. While this may seem to be the opposite of most nymph-rig set ups, having the smaller fly in front of the larger dropper will cause the flies to drift or swing more horizontally in the water, presenting a more distinct and natural looking profile beneath the surface. Set it up by tying your smaller fly directly to your leader and then tie 18 inches to 24 inches of tippet to the bend of the hook. Tie the second, larger fly to the tippet and you’re ready to fish.
A tag-fly rig—in which an unweighted Soft Hackle is paired with a weighted pattern—allows you to fish two different parts of the water column at once. Instead of tying the two flies directly in line, tie the lighter fly to the tag end of a tippet knot. Start by tying a 2- to 3-foot length of tippet to your leader using a triple surgeons knot or blood knot, leaving a 4-to-6-inch tag end at the bottom of the knot. Tie an unweighted Soft Hackle fly to the tag end, and then add a beadhead Soft Hackle to the end of the tippet.
Let It Swing
Swinging is probably the most productive way to fish Soft Hackles because it allows you to cover a lot of water, is easy to control, and produces some amazing tight-line grabs. However, your rig and your presentation still need to match the type of water you’re fishing if you want to be successful.
When you’re swinging Soft Hackles through deep, slow water, use either a pair of weighted Soft Hackles or a tag-fly rig with a heavy fly on the bottom and an unweighted soft hackle on top. Both rigs will present your flies throughout different depths in the water column. Start swinging your Soft Hackles through slow water just like you would a streamer. Cast them down and across the stream at a roughly 45-degree angle and then make a mend to let them sink. Once the flies have sunk a bit, tighten up on your line to allow the flies to swing across the water until they come to rest directly downstream. As the flies near the hang down, it’s often a good idea to raise your rod tip slightly, creating more tension and causing the flies to rise like emerging insects. This can trigger stubborn trout to strike, especially in deeper water when they haven’t reacted to the standard swing.
Swinging Soft Hackles can also be extremely effective in shallow, faster water. This is especially true when you see trout boiling but not breaking the surface at the base of rapids and faster-moving shoots as they feed on emerging insects. Generally, in faster water your soft hackle patterns should be slightly larger and heavier so that they will sink quickly and not be rushed downstream. Cast them into the fringes of soft water upstream of where you see or at least suspect trout are feeding, positioning yourself to swing down and across to the fish or likely pockets where you suspect fish are holding.
This angler hooked a trout on the lift after drifting his flies through this deeper slot.
The Drift-and-Rise
Another often overlooked way to fish with Soft Hackles is the drift-and-rise—dead-drifting the flies on a semi-tight line through slow pools, along the bank, or other likely looking water. Once your flies have drifted untouched for a few feet, tighten your line and lift your rod tip to cause the flies to rise toward the surface like emerging insects, triggering hungry trout to strike.
To dead-drift Soft Hackles, make a 15- to 20-foot cast perpendicular to and slightly upstream of the section of water you want to fish. Next, make an upstream mend to allow your flies to sink, and follow the flies with your rod tip as they drift past. Ideally, you want to drift the flies on a slack line, allowing them to drift at the same speed as the current, and set the hook any time you see your leader stop or twitch or tighten. Once the line has drifted past you, lower your rod tip and allow the line to come tight. Then, lift your rod as the line tightens, causing your flies to rise toward the surface of the water.
The drift-and-rise is a fantastic way to fish Soft Hackles through small creeks and streams where you don’t have a lot of room to strip or swing. It’s also ideal for isolating and thoroughly fishing small pockets or pools of trouty-looking water on larger rivers, especially during the late season when the water is low and trout are stacked up.
