Palmering

[Traditionalist]

Palmering means winding a hackle on to the hook in such a way that the fibres run spirally down either a part of the hook shank or all the way down it. There are basically two ways of achieving this. One is to tie the hackle in by the butt at the shoulder of the fly, grip the tip in the hackle pliers, and run it down in even spirals to the end of the body, let it hang there, and using a piece of ribbing wire or similar which you previously tied in, rib it in even spirals in the opposite direction back up to the shoulder.

There are various explanations extant for the origin of the word "palmer", meaning to rib with a hackle, but the truth is, this technique was originally used to dress imitations of woolly caterpillars, also know as "palmer" caterpillars, due to their wandering nature, and so the technique came to be called "palmering". The caterpillars got their name from wandering beggars/supplicants, who were known as palmers because they carried fronds of palm trees around with them.

Semi-palmered, means that the fly is only partially ribbed with the hackle. Usually this is specified in the pattern.

Palmered or semi- palmered patterns ( where the hackle only covers part of the body) were also referred to as being dressed "Buzz". This then came to mean any fly which only had a hackle, but was normally used to refer to dry flies. The hackle supposedly imitated the "Buzzing" or fluttering wings of an insect.

When ribbing palmered hackle, keep the wire taut and you should have no problem with trapping fibres. Palmering the hackle backwards form the eye after tying it in by the butt, and then counter ribbing from the butt to the eye with the wire or thread etc, is in my opinion the strongest and neatest method. You may however also tie the hackle in by its tip at the tail of the fly, and spiral it up the body to the shoulder where it is tied off, and then ribbed with the previously tied in ribbing wire.

There are many flies requiring this technique, one of them, the Woolly Bugger is a great fly in practically any situation. This is usually tied in sizes ranging from 10 to 2 on normal or long shank hooks, in black, brown and green. I also tie a claret version which is very effective, practically any colours may be used, white and two-tone versions are sometimes effective, and a version tied with grizzly hackle and grey body and tail is a good shrimp imitation for saltwater fishing in the appropriate sizes.

The body is usually chenille of the appropriate colour, a good variation is a dubbed fur body instead of the chenille, this makes a lovely transparent mobile hairy fly when brushed out with a velcro stick, the tail is a bunch of appropriately coloured Marabou, (some people use a bunch of hackles), and the hackle is a fairly closely wound palmered hackle the length of the body, ribbed with tinsel or wire. You may also use clear monofil nylon for ribbing if you desire a more subdued pattern.

A layer of lead or copper wire wound on to the body, and varnished before applying the chenille, makes a good weighted fly. The varnish is to stop discolouration soaking through from the lead and ruining the fly.

Before tying in the chenille, strip the fluff from the end and tie in the thread core, this reduces bulk at the tying in point, and is less likely to slip or come undone in use. This fly will catch practically anything anywhere! It may be fished as an imitative pattern slowly along the bottom, or as a streamer, or as a wet fly down and across, whatever takes your fancy. It is easy and quick to tie, and many people even advocate starting to tie and fish with this pattern.



Stewart style spiders are usually semi-palmered.