T.H.E. Fly

I first saw this brush-parachute hackle winding style in “Entomologie fur Dliegenfischer” by Walter Reisinger, Ernst Bauerfeind, and Erhard Loidl (2010). It’s a very easily executed tactic, similar to the umbrella hackle technique developed by Tatsuhiro Saido. The brush-parachute technique is useful in many more ways than the umbrella style, however.

T.H.E. Fly (Tilted Hackle Emerger) is a great way to both practice and utilize this hackling tactic.

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Step 1. Tie in the tail (a fan tail is used here), dub on the abdomen, and tie in a loop of yarn at the thorax. Keep the loop of a length that is easily lifted with the index finger of the material hand.

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Step 2. Tie in a hackle at the thorax. In this case the hackle is one size smaller than would be used for a hackle dry fly–this suggests the shorter wing of the emerging adult.

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Step 3. Wind the hackle up the looped post, holding the post tightly upright with your index finger. Wind counterclockwise and use the middle finger and thumb of your material hand to wind the hackle around the back side of the post.

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Step 4. Wind the hackle up the post for a distance equal to the length of the thorax. Then, wind it back down, tie it off, clip away the excess, and dub on the thorax.

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Step 5.  Stroke the hackle fibers rearward and pull the post tightly over the top of the thorax. Tie off and finish the head. Clip the post to leave a short stub. Cement the stub and head.

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