Elk Hair Caddis tips

[troutbum421 0]

Just started tying these up and I'm having a hard time with the elk hair part. How much should I use? I'm tying 14-18 and it seems like I have too much hair on the hook. Is there a general "rule" as to how much hair you should tie on?

[Hot Tuna 0]

Try coastal deer hair a sub for flies in those sizes...it works great. J Stockard our sponsor has it for an excellent price if you don't have any. Also, a simple caddis of a reverse taper body and a wing of coastal deer hair(or elk) works great for pools and flats...I prefer it to the hackled version and they are extremely fast to tie once you get the hang of it. Try taking two or three loose wraps and then tighten down on the next few wraps...after that wind the thread forward through the butts working forward....that will prevent the wing from slipping. Hope that helps....

Hot Tuna

[madkasel 0]

Depends on the waters... out west I hear they tie them with a huge gob of elk hair on top so they can see them in the big rivers... here in Wisconsin, our narrow spring creeks don't warrant so much hair. Some claim it can actually can put the fish down. So if you're on quiet, smaller waters you may want to tie them more sparsely.

 

I like tying them with deer hair as well... it's more supple and darker.

 

I've been teaching my boy how to tie CDC & Elk (superfast awesome pattern) and I think the key is to keep pinching the hair real hard with your left hand while you wrap with the right.

 

I do a loose wrap, then another wrap, after which I pull tight (and still keep a firm pinch with my left hand to keep it from spinning around the hook.

 

Then I do one wrap at about a 45 degree angle through the hair, and then another wrap under the hair.

 

Sometimes I whip finish on the hook, under the hair head and sometimes I whip finish over my first wraps (meaning I didn't leave enough room on the hook shank - seems to work well either way).

 

Anyway... it's a super-simple tie once you get a feel for it, so try varying levels of sparseness to see what that does for you. It's a great pattern... and I think it can pass as a cricket imitation, too.

 

One other thing... if you use Gink or some other kind of liquid floatant on the fly, just apply it to the elk hair wing. That way it'll float, but the rest of the fly will sit lower in the water where it'll likely catch more fish.

 

Another thing I always do on the ones I hackle is trim the bottom of the hackle, which also helps it to sit low.

 

Good luck with it. Keep working at it and you'll be just fine.

 

 

[Flytier 0]

troutbum421,

 

I have made a 5 minute video on tying the CDC&Elk as referenced above. While I am clearly biased in favor of this pattern <grin> you can of course use the same winging technique for a more standard Elk Hair Caddis.

 

The video is here:

http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/cdcelk.wmv

 

Cheers,

Hans W

 

[camoham 0]

nice video and work flytier.

 

camoham

[madkasel 0]

troutbum421,

 

I have made a 5 minute video on tying the CDC&Elk as referenced above. While I am clearly biased in favor of this pattern <grin> you can of course use the same winging technique for a more standard Elk Hair Caddis.

 

The video is here:

http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/cdcelk.wmv

 

Cheers,

Hans W

 

That's you?!?!?!?

 

Watched that video this weekend. I've tied a lot of Elk Hair Caddis, and finally got my hands on some CDC to try a CDC & Elk this past weekend. I count myself very lucky that the pattern search here led me to smalliehunter's submission, which linked to your most excellent tutorial.

 

I suppose I should tie some traditional EHC's, but I dunno... I love the ease, floatability and action of your CDC pattern.

 

[Flytier 0]

madcasel,

 

That's you?!?!?!?

 

Guilty as charged.

 

Cheers,

hans W

 

[flyboyutah 0]

For me on the amount either depends on if its light or darker color pattern. I kinda like a little thinner wing on the lighter colors , tans and lt. grays and a little thicker on the , olive and dark tans . I it comes down to what looks good to you...... , some days I tie to "tie" and most times its to relax and not rush and to polish my techinic I guess my advise would be try to make the wings with a nice shape the .... tent shape with the 45* taper to the back and up. hope it help and good tying steve

[madkasel 0]

I was tying a few more CDC & Elks up tonight (I'm addicted to this pattern!) and had some light elk hair out as well as some dark deer hair. On a whim I mixed the two in the hair stacker and I must say that I really like the look of the varying colors and hair thickness.

 

We'll see if the fish like it, too.

 

Anyway, something to try.

[Flytier 0]

madkasel,

 

If you like the regular CDC&Elk, you may also want to consider the Diving CDC&Elk, the Spent CDC&Elk, Streamer CDC&Elk, Spinner CDC&Elk (Fran Friesen), Crippled CDC&Elk (Bruce Salzburg), Cranefly CDC&Elk (Phil Holding) and the Bonefish CDC&Elk (Paul Slaney).

 

The Diving CDC&Elk makes for a great dry/dropper combination under a regular CDC&Elk

 

 

As an aside - I had a week on the West Branch of the Kickapoo, and many of the little springfed cricks in that corner of WI one summer, and the wee fly did some serious damage there :devil:

 

Cheers,

Hans W

[madkasel 0]

Boy, Hans... that is hawt. I've (of course!) fished the West Fork of the Kick and some other little streams out that way. So much fun... so technical. And no mountains, but surrounded by staggering beauty.

 

A quick search of the Web turns up most of these patterns. My next tie is the Cripple!! (wow does this look great)

 

http://www.fishingwithflies.com/Bruce'...DC&Elk.html

 

 

I couldn't turn up a picture or pattern for the CDC Streamer. Do you know of one?

 

It's too cool to be getting tips and information on this from the man who must be the world's foremost expert on this specific pattern line!!

 

It looks like I may be tying nothing but CDC & Elk patterns for quite some time!

 

 

[Flytier 0]

madkasel,

 

You can find the Crippled CDC&Elk in the Bruce Salzburg section on my page:

 

http://www.danica.com/flytier/bsalzburg/bsalzburg.htm

 

Here is one I tied:

 

 

As to the streamer version, it simply uses a larger size 4XL hook, Type 4 CDC feathers in the body, and a low sloping CDC&Elk wing. Look for the denser hair found on the deer's face. Works especially great on an intermediate line, short leader, over weed beds.

 

Cheers,

Hans W

 

[madkasel 0]

Very nice!

 

I snared a whole mess of gills on a size 16 CDC & Elk tonight, using a CDC feather that was died white. Stripped it in wet a few times and caught some nice crappies with it, too.

 

Too dang much fun. Oh, what a pattern.