Elk Hair Caddis

[skeet3t 0]

Woodchuck? Do you stop for roadkill? I know a fellow who did for a while until his supply was more than what he would use. Don't know all about the EHC but the fish like it. It was responsible for my Smoky Mountains NP grand slam of 5 rainbows, 2 brookies and 4 brown trout in one day. I don't leave home without them in sizes14-18.

[SilverCreek 0]

51 minutes ago, skeet3t said:

Woodchuck? Do you stop for roadkill?

No. I have a friend that shot one on his property. He prepped the skin and stretched it and gave it to me.

I also have an entire Australian possum, muskrat and red fox pelts.

I bought the female fox (vixen) fox so I could get the pinkish urine stained fur to tie up Art Flick's Hendrickson pattern.

"Many anglers believe that Steenrod used the urine-stained underbelly from a vixen red fox, because that amazingly descriptive material is so memorable. But it was Art Flick who later suggested this material in his writings, not Steenrod."

https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/fly-fishing-the-hendrickson-hatch/151976

"Interestingly, this classic Catskill pattern includes one of the most unusual materials: urine-stained belly fur of a red fox."

https://flyfishersinternational.org/Portals/0/FlyoftheMonth/PreviousIssues/1998-12 December - Hendrickson.pdf?ver=2012-03-12-225750-000

[skeet3t 0]

Interesting. Australian possum? Obviously it didn't swim to the US. I tie with a lot of things i find in the yard under the bird feeder. My fly boxes only have five or six patterns in two or three sizes. Good fishing.

[George Werbacher 0]

I wanted to thank everyone for their input and will be trying these different techniques and correcting the issues.

 

[Moshup 0]

On 3/12/2021 at 3:14 PM, SilverCreek said:

No. I have a friend that shot one on his property. He prepped the skin and stretched it and gave it to me.

I also have an entire Australian possum, muskrat and red fox pelts.

I bought the female fox (vixen) fox so I could get the pinkish urine stained fur to tie up Art Flick's Hendrickson pattern.

"Many anglers believe that Steenrod used the urine-stained underbelly from a vixen red fox, because that amazingly descriptive material is so memorable. But it was Art Flick who later suggested this material in his writings, not Steenrod."

https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/fly-fishing-the-hendrickson-hatch/151976

"Interestingly, this classic Catskill pattern includes one of the most unusual materials: urine-stained belly fur of a red fox."

https://flyfishersinternational.org/Portals/0/FlyoftheMonth/PreviousIssues/1998-12 December - Hendrickson.pdf?ver=2012-03-12-225750-000

Wish I knew where I could get a lovely pc of fox like that one ! 😢

[DFoster 0]

On 3/12/2021 at 10:12 AM, SilverCreek said:

The elk hair caddis was designed as a fast water fly and to imitate the skittering caddis by twitching and skating the fly on the hackle tips. It was not meant to be a slower water fly.

Al Troth, when he first published his EHC, noted that the EHC should be tied with hair that did not flair, but this type of hair is difficult to find especially for smaller patterns and now virtually every EHC now is tied with a prominent flared wing.

Did you also know that the EHC is not in the Gary LaFontaine's "Caddisflies”? The reason is that the EHC, as it is most often tied, is not a very realistic caddis fly pattern. Most EHC pattern are tied with hollow hair which flairs. When tied, this hair will flair up and form a wing that extend up over the body rather than down flat as a real caddis fly.

Gary Lafontaine makes the following observation about the dry fly patterns in his book, “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.”

The second caddis bible is Larry Solomon and Eric Leiser's "The Caddis and the Angler" published in 1977. "The Caddis and the Angler" has the elk hair caddis pattern on pg 200. You will notice that the hair on the pattern is tent like and does NOT flair much. See below for Al Troth's original EHC:

During an interview with Al Troth before his death, Al's son talks about his father's EHC. Go to 5:35 in the video below and you will see the EHC as it is meant to be tied.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR27csOJPVc

My version tied with low flair hair.

Why then is the EHC so popular? Well it is a great fast water fly and a fluttering caddis fly, it is easily tied, it is a high floater, it is easy to see, and it is durable. But is is NOT IMHO the best fly for calm waters. It is not an all around fly. It can be a better fly for calm waters if you clip the bottom hackles off flat to the hook, and clip off some of flaired deer hair to give the wing a flatter profile.

Here are three keys to a flatter EHC wing:

1. Selection of the right hair/material for the wing. Since hollow hair flares, select material that is less hollow. Either less hollow deer/elk hair; another animal like woodchuck, squirrel tail; synthetic material like polypropylene.

Test the deer/elk hair. Do the pinch test to see how the hair flares. Most of the pre-packed hair is not very good or EHCs. Occasionally you find good package, but that is the exception.

I wrote about proper hair selection here:

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/general-fly-tying-discussions/251936-selecting-deer-elk-hair-comparaduns.html

2. Learn the proper technique to tie in the hair. Use the pinch with the noose method:

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=81429&p=630123

3. If you must tie an EHC with hollow hair, bend the hook at the tie in point so the flared hair or wing material lies parallel to the body.

http://www.garyborger.com/2011/06/08/poly-caddis/

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.

Another way to tie the fly with a flat wing is to bend the front 1/3 of the hook up at a 30 degree angle. Then tie the hair on this bent section. The 30 degree up angle will angle the tied hair DOWN 30 degrees and it will lie flat over the back of the fly. Tie it in the manner that Gary Borger ties his Poly 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. 

 

 

 

If I could only bring one dry fly to a flowing river on any given day it would be a #14 EHC.  It's simply the most effective dry I have ever used on moving water and it's and as you state it's easy to see, the masterwork of Al Troth.  

Thank you for posting these links Silver-  

The EHC was the 2nd fly I ever attempted to tie and when compared to a store bought fly the fly I turned out was awful.  I didn't know it at the time but I had purchased the worst piece of elk hide on the shelf (if you were trying to replicate comparadun deer hair).  Who knew there are many different types of hair on an elk?  My EHC looked a whole lot like the original version shown in the photo above.  Not at all like those beautiful comparadun deer hair flies at the fly shop . \

The funny part is that "awful" looking fly hooked my first ever nice fly rod trout below.   If you look closely you can see it in his jaw. The elk hair is "flaired" in the photo a lot more than it actually is on the fly.   A decade later and that ugly fly is still stuck proudly on the rim of my fishing hat where it can be seen and occasionally mocked.  🙄.  I think Al Troth knew what he was doing.