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Hi folks, Some of you may be familiar with Agostino Roncallo's CDC flies (not only CDC, but he's best known for those.) See https://www.flydreamers.com/en/fly-tying/agostino-roncallo-u99378 Here's one of his flies, the Mirage, tied with one CDC feather: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp-37RH2MOc He says he uses grub fly hooks. J:son flies also use extended bodies, and unlike Roncallo, not just for mayflies - but they suggest an ultra-short dry fly hook, which they manufacture, for all their dry flies. My questions are: Are grub and caddis hooks the same? Is there a hook that will work for most extended body flies: Roncallo's CDC, J:son, "regular" extended body flies? (Could you kindly provide examples?) Finally, another (slightly unrelated) question, still about hooks: in Matching Major Eastern Hatches, Henry Ramsay calls for 2XS (short) wide-gap dry fly hooks such as the Tiemco 2488 when tying his CDC Adult Caddis. Do you think I can use regular-sized dry fly hooks instead, and just keep the body shorter (instead of buying more hooks)? Thanks! Confused in Connecticut PS The e-book My CDC Flies by Roncallo is available for free here: Part 1, Part 2.

Here's my newest YouTube tutorial, this time featuring a technique to create extended body mayflies. These are many variations to this method, yet I wanted to share a simple and effective one with all. Enjoy! TC