I know, I know, I'm getting carried away with extended body flies.

But developing the technique for the incorporated tails for Duck's Green Drake has opened up more possibilities. So with PMD and caddis hatches coming to a stream near me soon, I decided to do some experimenting.

The coin gives some scale reference for these small flies - tied on size 16 and 18 2X short dry fly hooks.

The tails are a bit much on the parachute PMD dun but it should fish. A shorter tail length is only a nipper away. I've not tied a sparkle (compara)dun before, so anything wrong with that fly is because it is the first one that I've ever tied. The X-caddis has a green body and orangish tan shuck. The larger caddis is a take off from Harrop's Henry's Fork Caddis, but tied with an extended body with shuck and substituting deer hair for the CDC wing.

Hope to get these out on the water soon. In the meantime, it's a conceptual thing. I like using the shorter, lighter, short shank hooks, which require less hackle or hair to float.

I find it easier to control the length and thickness of the body ( abdomen ) with furled antron compared to putting something ( dubbing, biot, quill ) around a hook shank. And I like the way the shucks and tails come right out of the end of the fly, although getting them in the right / best position does take some attention.

I particularly like the way the predecessors to this part of the extended family have produced, and I think part of the reason they have done so well is the flexible abdomen which has a texture more natural to the fish than a full on hook shank.

John