About fifteen years ago, a friend of mine came home to order ten dozen of flies. I checked out the list of flies and realized he hadn’t ordered any Soft Hackle. I told him so and he just said, “I don’t like those, they are too simple.” I insisted on him taking some and he told me he would ta View more...About fifteen years ago, a friend of mine came home to order ten dozen of flies. I checked out the list of flies and realized he hadn’t ordered any Soft Hackle. I told him so and he just said, “I don’t like those, they are too simple.” I insisted on him taking some and he told me he would take six, but only because I suggested so. Some time passed and we got together for a cup of coffee and talk about his trip. He told me all kinds of stories about fish. When he was about to finish, his girlfriend said “What about the Soft Hackle?”. He smiled and proceeded to tell me that she had caught about twelve trout at the same pool with this fly. “It´s amazing how effective that fly is, but I still don’t like it”, he finished.The Partridge and Orange is commonly categorized as a wet fly or soft hackle and is fished under the water surface. The fly is well known, with its roots set firmly in English angling history. It is an impressionistic pattern fished successfully during caddis hatches and spinner falls, and traditionally a trout and grayling pattern but may be used for other aquatic insect feeding species. The fly resembles emerging caddis pupa, diving adult caddis or sunken may fly spinners.I always gladly remember an afternoon at the Los Reartes river in Córdoba, a very nice hilly Argentinean province. That day I caught ten small trout in ten casts using a Partridge and Orange fly in a small pool. I made an eleventh cast and had no bites, but I regretted it; it was too much to ask for, so I just went back to where my mates where.Simple, delicate and easy-to-tie, it is by far one of the most effective fly designs that you can tie at the end of your tippet.
Move the mouse over the image to zoom in the fly.
Touch the image to zoom in the fly.
List of materials
MATERIALSHook: Mustad 3906, 3906B, 9671 or similar. Sizes #12 to #16.Thread: 6/0 or 8/0, orange.Abdomen: Orange Floss.Thorax: Hare´s Ear dubbing.Hackle: Brown hungarian partridge.
Steps
Step 1
Tie the orange floss to the hook shank.
Step 2
Evenly wrap some floss along the hook shank. Just one turn should be done.Place the dubbing material on the thread.
Step 3
Wrap the dubbing material to shape the small, rounded thorax. This segment should not be over 3mm long.
Step 4
Tie the brown Hungarian partridge at its tip.
Step 5
Wrap the partridge feather. No more than three turns should be done. Whip finish and cemment.
