Best Regards, Hi,
For nymphs, a beard should really be legs. For this I like the Brahma hen hackles and cut a V in the feather, and then angle this downward onto the hook. I tie two wraps with a pinch method and then cinch it up. I then reposition the fibers before tying off. I usually repeat this one or two more times depending on the affect I am trying to go after. Most of the time there is no symmetry to the left and right fibers, which is why I usually tie two V sections. I like the webby hackle for subsurface nymphs. I also like them to stick out to the side, yet they don't take away from the thorax that I have tied. For wet flies (that imitate a baitfish) then the beard is a throat and then I will strip hackle barbules, rotate the vice so the hook is upside down and make two turns using the pinch method. Then cinch, reposition, and tie in and off. At least this is how I teach it in my classes. I used to wrap partridge and pull down. But I find that too often the hackle breaks, the students put too much material in for the beard, or the head becomes too thick. Chappy. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
