Chuck, On winged wets you can either wrap the collar first, then set the wing, or you can set the wing, and then wrap the collar in front.
The first scenario is closest to the 'beard' you asked after. I would wrap the hackle, optionally pluck some barbs from the top using tweezers, and then set the wing. Doing a traditional beard hackle, or throat hackle, is fine and sometimes the only option (like with Blue Jay on, say, an Invicta), but for most patterns I prefer the look on a wrapped hackle. Your mileage may vary... Cheers, Hans
