March Flies from The Vise

[flytire 0]

new tyers and members

please post up some of the flies you're tying

[wildwilly 0]

Here is my first batch OJO (Organza Just Organza) flies advocated by Nick Thomas.

 

 

[niveker 0]

34 minutes ago, wildwilly said:

OJO

Those look awesome, Mr. Willy

[flytire 0]

Brown Boogy

Tail - Golden pheasant crest
Body - Oval gold or silver tinsel
Mid wing - Golden pheasant tippets
Throat - Brown hackle over Amherst pheasant tippets
Wing - Gray squirrel over golden pheasant tippets

Pete Hiatt Originator

[wildwilly 0]

3 hours ago, niveker said:

Those look awesome, Mr. Willy

Thanks.

[Rick58 0]

Still working on the Elk Hair Caddis

Hook - Size 12 Amazon Dry Fly

Thread - Veevus 70 D, brown

Body - Peacock Hurl

Hackle - Grizzly hackle

Wire - UTC Ultra Wire, Sm

[Sandan 0]

1 hour ago, Rick58 said:

Still working on the Elk Hair Caddis

Those are looking much better, Rick58. Keep up the good work. Advice, take it or leave it as we all know what free advice is worth. The head of the first with a little less wing mass of the second and you'll be right on target. Try keeping the wing a bit higher, as in not so far down the side of the body

[Rick58 0]

19 minutes ago, Sandan said:

Those are looking much better, Rick58. Keep up the good work. Advice, take it or leave it as we all know what free advice is worth. The head of the first with a little less wing mass of the second and you'll be right on target. Try keeping the wing a bit higher, as in not so far down the side of the body

Noted, thank you very much.

[flytire 0]

Leftovers

Hook - Mustad 94720
Thread - Black
Body - Black floss
Rib - Flat silver tinsel
Throat - White bucktail
Wing - Two orange hackles flanked by two red hackles
Shoulders - Blue peacock neck feathers
Sides - Ruffed grouse

Ronn Lucas Jr - FAOL

[Rick58 0]

More Elk Hair Caddis

Hook - Size 14 Amazon Dry Fly

Thread - Veevus 70 D, brown

Body - Peacock Hurl

Hackle - Grizzly hackle

Wire - UTC Ultra Wire, Sm

[Stillinscrubs 0]

On 3/1/2025 at 5:08 PM, Rick58 said:

Still working on the Elk Hair Caddis

Hook - Size 12 Amazon Dry Fly

Thread - Veevus 70 D, brown

Body - Peacock Hurl

Hackle - Grizzly hackle

Wire - UTC Ultra Wire, Sm

 

 

Those will catch fish. You can pull the elk wing up with your fingers and get it away from the body.

I like a lighter color wing on mine as I can see it from a greater distance. The fish only see the underside. I have a preference for fishing them with a light yellow body with a brown hackle tied in backward. It’s my number one confidence fly and catches fish everywhere. 

[SilverCreek 0]

I actually like the lower fly better with the wing closer to the body. It looks more natural since a natural caddis has its wing close to and folded over the body.

An elevated wing caddis pattern imitate the fluttering caddis pattern like the egg laying fluttering caddis below.

 

https://youtu.be/mjFEEJLQ0CY?si=EHfpHiz7gKjbuQNk

 

 

 

 

[SilverCreek 0]

When Al Troth invented the EHC, not much was known about caddis emergers. Al Troth designed the EHC to float on riffles and rougher water, and to simulate the adult caddis coming back to lay eggs. Most caddis do not stay on the water after emerging; but they have an emerger stage and that is what the X-caddis imitates.

The pattern and photo of the ORIGINAL elk hair caddis pattern is in Larry Solomon and Eric Leiser's "The Caddis and the Angler" published in 1977. The elk hair caddis pattern and photo are on pg 200. You will notice that the hair on the pattern is tent like and does NOT flair much. 

Al Troth, when he first published his EHC, noted that it should be tied with hair that did not flair, but this type of hair is difficult to find especially for smaller patterns. Current versions of the EHC use hollow deer hair and now virtually every EHC now is tied with a prominent flared wing. This results in a higher and more upright wing. The current patterns are better for fluttering caddis patterns but they are not good imitations of caddis on the water which have their wings folded over their body.

See below for Al Troth's original EHC:

Gary Lafontaine makes the following observation about the dry fly patterns in his book, Caddisflies. "There are some notable absences in the selections. There are no patterns with upright wings. This type generally recommended as an imitation of a fluttering caddisfly is not very effective when trout are feeding selectively, even if the adults are fluttering. When the natural begins unfolding its wings it usually flies off very quickly and such a transitory moment is not worth imitating. The tent wing fly is usually better because it imitates the insect at rest."

Take a look at these images of EHC, and virtually NONE of them are tied as Al Troth intended.

EHC Photos

Here is a tying tip to make the wings flatter.  If you dub the body so that it has a "reverse taper" so that it is thicker at the tail of the fly and then narrows at the head end of the fly, the wing will lie flatter on the body. Then there will be no "bump" at the front edge of the dubbing to lift the wing up.

If all you have are high profile EHCs, there is away to make the fly ride lower and more realistically on flatter water. Cut the bottom hackles off at the body so only there are no downward facing hackles. You will get more trout to take this 'low riding" caddis.

Sorry for hijacking the thread. If the above makes you examine how you tie the EHC and how the wing really should look, all the better. Hopefully, the next time you try an EHC in the right color and size and the fish refuse, you'll think about this post and trim the fly. 

 

3. If you must tie an EHC with hollow hair, you can bend the hook at the tie in point so the flared hair or wing material lies parallel to the body as in the Gary Borger Poly Caddis pattern bel0w

 

[niveker 0]

15 hours ago, flytire said:

Leftovers

Nice

[cphubert 0]

On 3/1/2025 at 5:24 AM, flytire said:

new tyers and members

please post up some of the flies you're tying

just ordered a new camera hope to be back at it soon