Farmer’s Soft Hackle

The fly tying extravaganza continues for all of you who are staying home and flattening the curve! Today Jonathan Farmer of Midnight Sun Custom Flies shows us a little soft hackle pattern he likes to fish. This is a super easy pattern to tie, and has been catching fish for an exceptionally long time. This is a great fly to throw on one of our Commando Heads or Smooths paired with any of our floating tips; swinging soft hackles is a cornerstone technique to be learned by all trout anglers, regardless of your region. Will Smallmouth eat these too? You bet! Tie up a dozen or two in all your favorite colors and sizes, and go have a blast!

[@mikekuczynski1552]

Fun to fish fun to tie , Love your products . This winter with low water on smaller streams have really gotten into the single hand Skagit. Thanks for sharing

[@NoEscapeOutdoors]

I'll definitely be tying a few of these for the small mouth in the Delaware. Thanks for sharing man

[@opstshare7295]

Awesome great to hear!

[@markp7799]

I love soft hackles! I've caught browns, cutties, and rainbows. I use them in lakes too, when bugs are coming off.

[@opstshare7295]

One of the best patterns invented!!

[@bok9201]

Great video. I love the old school soft hackles and winged wets. Thank you for describing the terminal tackle for trout Spey. Very useful!

[@OPSkagit]

You're welcome!

[@h2otroutfitter278]

Yes and yes.

[@opstshare7295]

Thank you!

[@conanbaus9252]

Nice fly, practically what I tie but I use the tiniest tungsten bead!

[@opstshare7295]

A small bead can be critical when the pupae are down a little deeper for sure!

[@mg-by7uu]

Another great fly Jon. I love soft hackles. Question: Why doesn't OPST make intermediate tips? I just hacked up a 15ft Rio intermediate tip and welded loops on it so I could get 5ft & 7.5ft intermediate tips out of it.

[@opstshare7295]

Hello Michael! The intermediate tips are in development as soon as the pandemic has past.

[@mg-by7uu]

@@opstshare7295 oh nice thanks! I'll buy some as soon as they're ready

[@quantumaquatic1767]

Are yall ever gonna make a 10wt? I need one for the texas surf!!!!

[@opstshare7295]

There has been talk, stay tuned! What are you folks chasing in the Texas surf?

[@quantumaquatic1767]

@@opstshare7295 we have speckled trout, Redfish, Jack crevalle, kingfish, spanish mackerel, skipjack,pompano,whiting, and juvi tarpon, lots more but mainly the big Jack's and bull reds that linger around out jetties is why I would like a 10wt, I know Skagit heads can handle bigger fish too but not sure about a 9wt skagit rod. My main deal though is getting through the wind.

[@opstshare7295]

@@quantumaquatic1767 That's a diverse fishery indeed! The 9wt is big enough for your wind, not sure about the fish size......we have tested it mainly on big King Salmon on the swing:)

[@jayr7471]

How do you connect the t material to the fly line and then the tippet?

[@OPSkagit]

Loop to Loop connections

[@jayr7471]

@@OPSkagit sorry I mean the cut to length ones. What all do you need to make a new loop?

[@jayr7471]

@@OPSkagit I found a vid how to do it. Thanks for the quick response.

[@mudjerry]

Isnt this a holy grail caddis basically?

[@opstshare7295]

Not sure will have to go check that one out

[@opstshare7295]

Just looked it up, the Holy Grail Caddis has a bead hidden in the thorax.

[@jonathanfarmer6010]

The holy grail came along well after the basic hares ear soft hackle. It has a small bead behind the hackle creating a “thorax” and has pheasant tail over the top of the bead as a wing casing. This is just an old school super simple hares ear soft hackle flymph basically. Nothing fancy or original. Just a fun fly and the idea was to get folks thinking about swinging bugs 😁 hope you enjoyed it.