what do you think of CDC - duck ass?

[fish 0]

Yesterday I bought some olive CDC - "cul de canard" or "duck ass" as I like to call it. It is kind of pricey, a little bag of perhaps 25 feathers was $3.50 CDN or $0.10 US (just kidding about $2.50 US). I kind of like the ephemerel bulk it adds to some flies I have seen in photos but I have never fished a fly made with it. Anyone else using it, what kinds of patterns, are there a special situations where it is particularly useful, advice on how to fish flies made with it?

[Steeldrifter 0]

I have used it very little myself but i did tie some cdc caddis last year and had a bit of success with them.

 

Fished the same way as any other emerger.

 

One thing to remember when using cdc flies.....the cdc actually has tiny air pockets that give it it's float so you dont want to use fly floatant on a cdc fly or it will make it sink by "smothering" the sir bubbles.

 

SD

[kschu 0]

I sure that others have seen a similar display. At my fly shop, they have a small clear cube filled half full with water. Many weeks ago (6+ maybe), George tossed in several dry flies and put the lid on the box. The fly made with CDC is still floating. The others are soaked and have sunk to the bottom of the cube.

 

I've not tied with it yet, but this is my first year of serious tying and I'm still working on other patterns and have not done anything that would use CDC yet.

 

Ken S.

 

[ChalkstreamAngler 0]

Hi all,

 

CDC can be used for a variety of flies, some of which have proved very successful for me. My personal favourite is the very simple 'F' Fly, devised by Marjan Fratnik. The one I tend to use features a sparsely dubbed hares ear body and a few CDC feathers for the wing. The following web page has a picture of the fly and also tells a bit about the inventor:

 

http://www.ribiska-druzina-tolmin.si/zanim...ulij99_eng.html

 

I hope this helps.

[Philly 0]

I use CDC quite a bit. One of my favorites, and pretty much the only caddis pattern I have in my box is the CDC and Elk, actually a CDC and Deer Hair. Check out the site below for tying instructions. Though I will say this I use whatever CDC feather I happen to have to tie them.

 

http://www.danica.com/flytier/hweilenmann/cdcelk.htm

 

 

Taking a que from the CDC and Elk. I often use a wrapped CDC feather for the bodyand or thorax when I tie mayfly patterns. Instead of dubbing the body when I tie the Usual, I'll wrap a CDC feather for the body. I also use it in most of my dry midge patterns, either as body or wing, though I don't use the whole feather for a wing like a lot of folks do. I just strip the barbules off to make the wing.

It can also be use like a soft hackle. I've even used it to tie nymphs. You can use it for a variety of flies, just throw out the notion that it's only good for dry flies

[ShadowNix 0]

Hey kschu...

 

That cube would be interesting...we could have a contest here... the best floating fly.... winner gets something... obviously would have to be a real fly (not just some CDC tied to a random hook). You could take pic's and post them. Just an idea.

 

'Nix

[mgj 0]

that cube has a slanted mirror which allows a fish-eye view of the floating fly. it's an ingenius device from the mind(s) of c&f design.

 

anything new or novel I come up w/ as far as a dry fly gets dropped in the slant tank for a look-see and to test its bouyancy.

 

mgj

[kschu 0]

That's right, there is a mirror in it. And I do recall George (or was it Kyle) dropping a fly in there and having me look at the mirror to see what it looked like from below. I just assumed that George came up with this thing himself.

 

I hope to visit the store on Saturday. I need more beads for bead head nymphs. I'll try to remember to bring my son's digital camera. I'll get a photo of this box, with the CDC fly still floating I'm sure. I'll also try to get photos of some of the awesome bass bugs that Kyle tied recently. It is remarkable (to me anyway) how talented this young man is. He'll be going off to college this fall and the fly shop won't be the same without him.

 

More later,

Ken S.

[Infrared 0]

I like to use it in Elk Hair Caddises. Its virtually impossible to sink, i left one in a glass jar, and it floated for a good ten hours. Then, i almost drank it, so i decided it would be safer to end the experiment

[backcast 0]

If you get a chance pick up Trout Hunter by Rene Harrop. He explains CDC a lot better than I ever could. The fact that the sent is from a duck and not strange to the trout is one major advantage of using CDC. I have tied with it and like using it.

[kschu 0]

QUOTE (kschu @ May 20 2004, 07:18 PM)

That's right, there is a mirror in it. And I do recall George (or was it Kyle) dropping a fly in there and having me look at the mirror to see what it looked like from below. I just assumed that George came up with this thing himself. I hope to visit the store on Saturday. I'll try to remember to bring my son's digital camera. More later, Ken S.

Well, I did not get to the store till Sunday. I forgot to bring my son's digital camera. I did see that this display box did have a C&F Designs label on it.

 

I've tried searching for a web page that might have a picture of this case, but have had no luck so far. Sorry.

 

Ken S.

 

[FISH ON! 0]

I was at the library recently and looked at a book in the stacks dedicated to CDC flies. I can't remember the author's name, but it was titled Tying with CDC.