Eggy Soft Hackle

Nice lookin little bug, think i'd choose that over a nymph for erie.

Killer - the great thing about baggin a rooster is that in addition to great eatin, there is a motherlode of feathers that can be used for tyin. Took me 5 minutes to clean each bird and about 30 to get the feathers I want. For this fly I used the ones that come off the back just behind the head. You can see them on the pic I took - behind the head just below the white ring. Also on the rump of the bird, both on top and on the underside there are feathers with long fibers that can be used for spey flies. Heck, I even carefully pluck the real small ones around the head area including the white ring. Great for dressing smaller flies. Get yourself about five ziplock baggies and fill 'em up - putting the same type feathers in each one. You'll get yourself enough to last a long time......and congrats on baggin your limit.

When tying small eggs with McFly foam or Glo Bug yarn on small flies like this one sometimes tying them in the normal fashion with a strand of yarn on top and one on the bottom can add bulk and crowd the eye. Also by clipping the yarn so short there isn't much yarn left to "fold" over with your fingers to create the egg - thus leaving thread exposed. Something I've been doing when making small eggs either as heads or just plain eggs on the middle of the shank is to make a dubbing loop, twist, and wrap. Perhaps I should have mentioned this before on this tute. I got a question from a member as to how to make real small eggs like this. Plus, I think it's a quicker way of tying these. Here's some pics.
 
1. Make the dubbing loop by wrapping the thread around your finger and back down. Tie this loop in.
 

 
2. Take a very small piece of yarn, seperate it, and place it in the loop.
 

 
3. Using a dubbing twister, spin the loop, till the yarn tightens up.
 

 
4. Take one or two wraps of the yarn strand around the hook shank and tie off. Whip finish.
 

make sure when packaging feathers of a harvested bird, you buy yourself some mothballs to put inside the bag.  If not, the mites will chew all the fibers off the feathers....

Ask me how I know this....

ORIGINAL: fishenfool46

will storing hackles with ceder help?

mothballs are the best.

I know what I will be attempting tonight...Steely, I love it. Thanks for sharing!

Denny, you are hands down the best ball-buster this site has ever seen.