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foambug

old 2new, dry 2 wet

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Ok I do know that the elk hair caddis is the go to- nowadays,.and that wickams fancy is sorta the equal...of days gone by....

 

Were there others were similar to the elk hair caddis, or wickams fancy???

 

Jus wondering, is there a site, page that does compares like this??

 

Thank you all in advance

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Ok I do know that the elk hair caddis is the go to- nowadays,.and that wickams fancy is sorta the equal...of days gone by....

 

Were there others were similar to the elk hair caddis, or wickams fancy???

 

 

 

In my opinion, the EHC as typically tied these days is NOT a very good imitation for a caddis. It's wings are too upright because almost all fly tiers use deer or elk hair that flairs and this makes for an upright high wing profile.

 

Would it surprise you to find out that the EHC in NOT in the most famous book on caddis - Gary Lafontaine's Caddisflies? Why? Because it is not a very good pattern for selective trout. It is best in riffles where trout do not get a good look at the fly. The palmered hackle is great for floatation but they make the fly ride higher than a real caddis.

 

This is the Mother's Day caddis hatch on the Madison River. Note that most of the flies have a DOWN wing profile.

 

48764970803_f393923db6_c.jpg

 

Here is an original Elk Hair caddis as tied by Al Troth, the originator of the fly. His original recipe called for hair that did not flair. This image is clipped from a video on Al Troth made by his son.

 

35593315831_1813512a5d_z.jpg

 

Here is the typical video on tying an EHC and the high wing profile that is typical.

 

post-27478-0-54358200-1569000479_thumb.png

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqOB6HbdulA

 

Since non flaring elk and deer hair is hard to find, another pattern like the woodchuck caddis using woodchuck hair in the place of elk/deer in the EHC is a great substitute as are synthetic like Gary Borger's Poly Caddis which uses polypropylene yarn. I don't use palmered hackle because I want the fly to rid low in the water.

 

Here is the woodchuck caddis. Imagine the wing on an EHC fly

 

post-27478-0-84596100-1569000101_thumb.png

 

Here is a poly caddis with the hook bent to lower the wing profile

 

post-27478-0-85239700-1569000244_thumb.jpg

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Here in the Smokies, the Yellow Palmer has been the go-to fly of that type since the early 1900s. No wing. It still works as well as it did in my grandfather's day.

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Here in the USA, the most popular dry fly is the Adams but not the original Adams. The most popular is the Parachute Adams in size 14. More of that specific dry lfy is sold than any other dry fly.

 

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/10-flies-for-trout/

 

https://news.orvis.com/fly-fishing/tom-rosenbauers-12-essential-trout-flies

 

https://midcurrent.com/experts/experts-top-ten-dry-and-wet-flies/

 

https://news.orvis.com/fly-fishing/top-5-patterns-for-spring-in-montana?

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