How to Tie Dry Flies that Float Higher and Drier

"Heavily-Hackled" Grey Hackle Peacock Fly

Fishing the rugged waters of many western rivers and streams can play havoc with many of the more delicate feather wing flies. Constantly using fly floatants and refurbishing the hackles to help your pattern float can take away time from your fishing, so here’s is a solution. Use a heavily-hackled pattern. This will create a fly that has higher buoyancy and stronger endurance to withstand the wear and tear on delicate dry flies. Here is the method to tie a Grey Hackle Peacock.  

Step 1. Begin by tying in red tail fibers and a peacock herl body 2/3 up the shank and tie it off. Then tie in a long Grizzly saddle hackle and wrap it forward to the hook eye and tie off.  

Step 1. Tying the Heavily-Hackled" Grey Hackle Peacock

Step 2. Wrap the hackle back to the body and bring it forward again to the hook eye and tie it off. The result should show a large, bushy hackle.

Step 2. Tying the Heavily-Hackled" Grey Hackle Peacock

Step 3. Trim off the excess hackle and finish the head.