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Avoiding Cone-Shape Hackle
Collars
By A.K. BEST
If your mayfly dries float downstream with their tails
sticking straight up, chances are that one (or both) of
the following is true: 1) The hackle collar is set too
far back behind the eye of the hook; or 2) The hackle
collar is cone-shaped. By cone-shaped, I mean the hackle
fibers immediately behind the hook eye are shorter than
those immediately in front of the body. Look at your
flies from the side and you’ll see it instantly. You can
fix this problem on the stream by simply clipping back
the longer hackle fibers from the bottom of the collar.
I like to do this anyway, just to get the fly closer to
the surface. Clipping the hackle from the bottom of the
fly will also prevent tippet twist.
If you tie in hen wings and hackle in the traditional
manner (hen hackle tips forward over the eye, and then
tie in the hackle butt behind the wings), you’ll
increase the effective shank diameter behind the wings
by almost 60 percent, compared to the bare hook shank in
front of the wings! Since most of today’s genetic hackle
has fibers that are the same length butt to tip, a
cone-shaped collar is almost guaranteed if you tie your
wings and hackle as just described. The slightest bit of
tension from tippet to fly will cause the fly to tip
tail up.
Try the following to prevent a cone-shaped collar:
1) Save a space that is equal to only about 3 hook-eye
lengths for wings, hackle and head.
2) Tie in the hen-hackle-tip wings with the tips
pointing to the rear. Place them slightly on your side
of the hook and allow thread torque to slide them to the
top of the shank. Lean them forward and figure-8 wrap to
an upright position.
3) Trim a hackle butt and tie it in in front of the
wings. Attach your hackle pliers to the hackle tip and
make the first turn of hackle away from you, in front of
the far wing, down and up behind the wings. Take one or
two more turns of hackle (depending on hook size) behind
the wings and cross the hackle forward under the wings
for hackle wraps in front of the wings. Never wrap the
hackle between the wings. Always try to achieve 1/3
hackle behind and 2/3 hackle in front of the wings.
By tying both the wings butts and the hackle butt in
front of the wings you will cause the diameter of what’s
wrapped around the hook in front of the wings to be
almost equal to the body shoulder tie-off behind the
wings. The theory here is if the diameter on both sides
of the wings is the same, there can be no cone-shaped
hackle collar.
Another advantage of hackling in this style is that it
causes hackle fibers to lean both forward and backward,
much like leg placement of the live insect.
—A.K.
Check out A.K.’s fly-tying videos, based on his popular
books (unless noted, all times are 60 minutes; prices
$19.95): Tying Dry Flies (120 minutes; $29.95); Tying
BWOs; Tying Caddis & Midges; Tying Callibaetis & Green
Drakes; Tying Nymphs & Wets; Tying Terrestrials; Basic
Fresh Water Streamer Tying (available soon; 120 minutes;
$29.95); Basic Salt Water Tying (available soon; 120
minutes; $29.95); Tying Gordons, Hendricksons, March
Browns & Pale Evening Duns (available soon); Tying PMDs,
Red Quills, Tricos and Paraleptophlebias (available
soon); Techniques for Tying Tiny Dry Flies.
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