Goddard Caddis SBS

[ScottP]

Never the first fly I tie if I've been away from the vise for a while. Pretty basic in terms of materials and not that complicated, but you have to nail proportions/amounts/thread tension to get a decent looking one; ugly ones do catch fish, but my ugly ones tend to come apart, too. I've tied them skinny (cut the hair closer to the hook shank) but mine never floated as long, so I go more with the full figured look. For smaller sizes I go with sturdier nymph hooks (something like a Mustad 3906) - makes it a bit easier for me when spinning the hair. These suckers really do float like a cork in even the roughest water and are great for pounding up fish that don't even know they're hungry.




hook - Dai Riki 320 #12
thread - UTC 70 brown
body - deer hair
hackle - brown (I like to undersize it a bit, so for this fly I'd want something a bit bigger that #14 hackle but not quite a #12; sounds a bit anal but it seems to sit on the water better)






Part 1




Mash down barb, attach thread at 50% and wind back to the bend









cut a generous clump of deer hair, clean but don't stack and trim tips









hold deer hair on top of hook (you'll want it a little longer off the back end)









with hair pinched to hook, 2 soft loops right on top of each other









draw the bobbin slowly and firmly towards you but maintain pinch so it doesn't spin; hair will flare in the front which is what you want









take a couple wraps through the flared hair which will distribute it around the hook shank and move thread forward; push the flared hair back with your fingernails (while holding onto the tail) to compress the hair; sorry only 2 hands available so I can photograph









cut and clean another clump of hair and trim the tips; make this one shorter than the first clump since you're going to spin it









hold it on top of the hook with right hand (if you're a righty tier)









and apply 3 soft loops right on top of each other; holding the clump with your "bobbin" fingers checks the tendency for the thread to slide down the clump too far (again lack of 3rd hand means no pic; sorry)











draw the bobbin slowly and firmly towards you and allow hair to spin around hook shank