Fly Tying

 The Elk Hair Caddis dry fly is probably the most popular adult caddis fly pattern imitation in fly fishing.  This, along with the Adams and the Griffiths gnat, is one of my all time favorite dry flies.  These  flies have been fooling trout since they were first presented to rising trout.  It's a simple fly to tie and it's easy to see on the water.  Read on for simple instructions for tying this classic fly pattern.

Part of the reason this fly is so popular is because in the larger sizes it can be used to imitate stoneflies and mayflies as well as caddis.  You can tie with different color dubbing to represent what you need.  Yellow and green are popular as stonefly imitations.  I usually keep a mix of brown, black, green and tan in my fly box.  When I'm casting a size 10-12 I will often tie on a small emerger to it for a dropper rig.  Learn to tie this fly and keep your fly box stocked.

INSTRUCTIONS

HOOK:  Standard Dry Fly #10-#20 (TMC 100)

THREAD:  Match your dubbing

BODY:  Brown, Black, Yellow, Green, or Tan dubbing.

RIB:  Small or Fine Copper Wire

LEGS:  Brown Hackle

WING:  Elk Hair (Bleached is prefered)

Tie on your thread and work towards the bend of the hook.  Tie in your copper wire and continue to the bend.  Apply your dubbing and wrap forward, continuing to about a hook eye length from the hook eye.  Tie in the hackle and palmer it back to the bend.  Now wrap the rib in the opposite direction forward.  The hackle will tighten the body and the rib will secure the hackle.  Tie off the rib and cut the excess wire and hackle.  Cut and stack a pinch of bleached elk hair.  Tie it in an eye lenght behind the eye.  Make sure the tips do not extend beyond the body length.  The trick here is to tie in two loose wraps and then two tight ones.  Trim the  hair leaving a small head extending over the eye.  Add another wrap in the trimmed butts and then a couple more wraps in front of them, and behind the eye.  Whip finish, trim excess and add head cement.  Now, start counting how many trout you fool with this fly. 

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