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binfordw

EH Caddis- criticism/advice (again)

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Seems this got lost in the update, so I'm reposting.

 

 

 

Anyway, 6 months or so back I asked for tips on some basic trout patterns, and got alot of good advice. I put what I could of it to good use, and it really changed they way my flies look.

 

 

Heres a pic from 6 months or so ago of an EHC

 

IPB Image

 

 

 

 

And heres how I'm tying them now

 

 

IPB Image

 

 

 

Am interested to get even more tips on ways to improve this pattern.

 

I know many prefer a thinner wing,

 

What are other things to change or improve to make a better EHC?

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Hi,

I saw that Hans (Flytier) had posted some great pics of Al Toth's Elk Hair Caddis. Hopefully, He'll post them again. One trick I learned by watching Hans tie his CDC and Elk is to cut the butts off the hair before tying it to the hook shank. Measure the hair out holding it up to the shank. Then grasp the measured portion in your non-tying hand's thumb and forefinger. Clip the butt ends of the hair off, evenly. Hold the tips on the shank in position as you measured them, then wrap the thread in the correct spot. This eliminates having to clip the butts off after tying the hair to the shank and will give you a more even head.

 

You can also tie the hair on the shank by the tips rather than by the butts. You can then trim and shape the butts with your scissors to form the wing.

 

Mark

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An alternative take is to leave the butts long and take several wraps progressively through the butts, then trimming. Different strokes for different folks...

HT

PS The one from 6 months is good enough to catch fish!

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It really looks good, major improvement. Couple little things, shorten up the width on your thread wraps on the wing, more wraps dosen't mean more secure. Hot Tuna's tip is a good one, one other thing that I do is to lift the butts of the wing and put some thread wraps underneath like your trying to prop a hair wing pattern up. This will give the hair a little fold and help to keep them from pulling out plus it makes it easyer to trim the head. It also make the head a little more uniform. If you look at yours when you trimmed the head on an angle to top hairs are shorter then the bottom, this can make them easyer to be pulled out plus the bottom hairs may get in way of the eye. lifting the butts up will give you a more equal head.

 

IPB Image

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I saw that Hans (Flytier) had posted some great pics of Al Toth's Elk Hair Caddis. Hopefully, He'll post them again.

 

Sure. Here are three views on an Elk Hair Caddis tied by Al Troth, and provided by Al to me as a representative specimen.

 

IPB Image

 

IPB Image

 

IPB Image

 

Cheers,

Hans W

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Thanks, Hans.

 

Interesting to see that the originator of this fly doe not tie it with the pronounced head (of clipped hair butts) that I see on so many commercial and angler versions (such as the photo above yours). (That's not a criticism of the large head, just an observation.)

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Yup...great photos. My theory on the stubbier head, is that it helps when you want to fish the fly dragging and drowned. I think the stubby head makes little air bubbles in the film when you let the fly drag directly below you on a tight line. While I no longer smoke cigars, I used to hook some nice fish by leaving a stubby head elk hair dragging below me and enjoying a nice smoke...the closest thing to pier fishing we're going to get! Again just a theory.....

John

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This is one of my favorites but I don't have it perfected yet. I really appreciate all the info and thanks to binfordw for the original post.

 

One question from here - what is your favorite body dubbing? Color?

 

Thanks,

TerryT

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I like making up a dubbing in my coffee grinder which is half beaver fur(or something like it) and half sparkle yarn cut up into little pieces. Make sure you cut the yarn into small pieces or you will smoke your coffee grinder. My favorite colors are tannish brown and caddis green. Incidentally, I use the same dubbing as the under body for LaFontaine caddis pupas. Try the fly with no hackle for the more moderate sections of the stream; I use coastal deer hair instead of elk for the wing.

HT

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Madkasel,

 

Over the years Al Troth made the head smaller and smaller, these days he slices the butts very close to the thread wraps using a sharp razor blade.

 

The varnish does indeed cover both the thread wraps and the short elk hair butts.

 

Cheers,

Hans W

 

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Putting head cement on the butts of the wing is supposed to seal up the elk hair so it can't suck up any water throught the open hollow ends allowing it to float better. I do it but don't know that I can see a real difference, sounds good.

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Madkasel,

 

Over the years Al Troth made the head smaller and smaller, these days he slices the butts very close to the thread wraps using a sharp razor blade.

 

The varnish does indeed cover both the thread wraps and the short elk hair butts.

 

Cheers,

Hans W

 

 

Thanks! I will have to try that.

 

I think I usually make too big a head... just like the look of it, but it's not very caddisy... or necessary on the small spring cricks where I'm flipping flies.

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