By Conner Jones:
The Heavy Metal Soft Hackle incorporates two of my favorite materials to use on trout flies, partridge, and CDC. If you are not familiar with these two materials, partridge is a wonderful soft hackle feather from the namesake bird. The gray/brown mottling on these feathers can really add natural motion and color to your fly. CDC is a feather from near the preening gland of a duck. As such, it is naturally hydrophobic and is mostly used for dry flies.
However, when CDC has submerged the hydrophobic qualities of the feather cause it to trap air bubbles giving off the illusion of life that is hard for other materials to replicate. The combination of CDC and a soft hackle can be a deadly one, and often times when the mystery hatch occurs this fly is the first one in the water.
Soft hackles like the Heavy Metal Soft Hackle are really versatile, they can be fished single or as a dropper, swung across current, or in a tandem nymph rig. This versatile fly is fun to tie and is a great searching pattern if you aren’t sure what the fish are taking.
- Hook: Daiichi 1550 size 12
- Thread: Black 6/0 Uni thread
- Body/Rib: Copper wire size BR (Brassie)
- Thorax: Natural hare dubbing
- Hackle: One natural dun CDC feather and one partridge feather of matching size
Conner Jones ties for Cohutta Fishing Company, cohuttafishingco.com.