The fly box · No. 11 of 36
Elk Hair Caddis
Adult caddis (sedges) resting or skittering on the surface.
- Kind
- Dry
- Hook sizes
- 12–16
- Season
- Spring, summer, autumn
- For
- Trout
- At the vice
- A moderate tie
The dressing
| Hook | Standard dry fly, barbless or barb flattened, sizes 12–16 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Tan or brown, 8/0 (70 denier) |
| Tail | None |
| Body | Hare’s ear dubbing, natural tan or olive |
| Rib | Fine gold wire, wound forward through the hackle |
| Hackle | Brown or furnace cock, palmered from the front of the body back to the bend |
| Wing | Bleached or natural light elk hair, tied down-wing to the bend |
| Also | Head formed by the trimmed butts of the wing hair |
Tying it
- Tie in the gold wire at the bend.
- Dub a slightly tapered body forward, stopping well short of the eye.
- Tie in the hackle at the front of the body and palmer it back to the bend in open turns.
- Trap the hackle tip with the wire, then wind the wire forward through the fibres and tie off.
- Clean and stack a bunch of elk hair and measure it to reach the bend.
- Bind it down behind the eye with several tight turns, then whip finish under the butts.
- Trim the butts square over the eye to leave a short, blunt head.
Fishing it
A fly for riffles, pocket water and summer evenings when sedges flutter upstream. Dead drift it first, on 5X (0.15 mm). If that fails, lift the rod and skate it a hand’s width, then let it sit; the twitch is often what triggers the take. It is buoyant enough to carry a small nymph beneath it. Grease it well and it will ride the roughest seams where you would not trust any other dry.
Where it comes from
Al Troth first tied it in Pennsylvania in 1957, some years before he moved to Montana and made his name as a guide and tier. He wanted a caddis that would stay afloat in fast water. Hollow elk hair gave him the tent-shaped wing and the buoyancy; a palmered hackle held down by wire added the legs and the strength.