As much as I enjoy playing with all the new synthetic tying materials that get introduced each year and love the never ending pursuit of trying to build a better mousetrap at the vise, I've come to realize over the years that I have a strong reverence for a lot of old fly patterns. Some are painstakingly complex like the old Rangely Streamers of Carrie Stevens. Others are amazingly simple and constructed of a few basic materials that suffice to both look good and, most importantly, get the job done. Once upon a time, fly tyers didn't have access to digitally enhanced laser printed minnow eyes or 42 different formulas of UV resin. They had feathers and fur and perhaps a few flashy synthetics to incorporate into their patterns.
While the wide variety of new materials out there undoubtedly lend themselves to a lot of really cool patterns and techniques, many of the tried and true patterns of yesteryear continue to catch fish today just as they have for many decades. The Jack Gartside Soft Hackle Streamer is most certainly one of them. Jack was credited as one of the first tyers to wind blood quill marabou as a hackle and that is the basis for the Soft Hackle Streamer. This technique remains a staple in the steelhead and salmon tying world and marabou has long been a material of choice for achieving unparalleled movement in a fly.
The Soft Hackle Streamer is easy to tie and uses only three readily available materials. Perhaps five if you insist on counting the hook and thread. It makes a deadly small minnow or leech imitation depending on your color choice and has become one of my favorite patterns to swing on a trout spey for a variety of fish on our local rivers. In the spring time when droves of tiny salmon fry are migrating out of the river and into Puget Sound, the Soft Hackle Streamer is about the right size and profile to match the hatch. About the only thing I've changed from the original is the hook choice. I really like the Ahrex NS156 as a platform for building this fly. It's a great shape to compliment the sleek pattern and it's amazingly sharp and strong, which is essential when a chunky Skagit sea run bull trout decides to clamp on and streak for the nearest wood pile.
My favorite colors in order are white, olive and black, but don't shy away from tying a few bright attractor colors like chartreuse or orange as these work great at times too.
Gartside's Soft Hackle Streamer Recipe:
Hook: Ahrex NS156 #8
Thread: White Semperfli Classic Waxed 8/0
Tail: Pearl Krystal Flash & Silver Polar Flash
Body: White Blood Quill Marabou
Collar: Natural Mallard Flank