Newbee Tyer critique..... Elk Hair Caddis

[jeliask]

New to tying. My first.. ( presentable ) elk hair caddis, any suggestions??

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[kengore]

Looks pretty good to me! Go see what the fish think. I looks perfect for slow water.

I fish a lot of fast western pocket water, and I modify the standard pattern for extra floatation. For more float I would add a bit more hair to the wing. I also leave the butts a little longer, clipped off in line with the hook ey so they form a head profile. I also clip a small V from the hackle on the underside to encourage the fly to be self righting when dunked into a small water fall or riffle.

[Flyrodde]

Very nice fly. Just a little trick I like for the wing. I find that trimming the elk hair to length before I tie it in makes a very neat head. I tie in the hair, then whip finish only around the hook. Makes a very durable wing that doesn't rotate around the hook. Welcome to the obsession.

[cklenske]

Nice fly. I'd leave just a little more head on the elk hair. Pull the butts upward, then cut them. Whip finish under the head. Looks like a little crew cut when it's done. Keep up the good work.
CJ

[peregrines]

Jeliask,

Nice job! That looks like a winner. Keep tying 'em. It's a great pattern and a lot of folks tie them in different ways.

Here's some stuff to consider on future EHC's you tie--- offered NOT as criticism, just throwing it out there. No two tyers tie them the same way.

Head: Personally, I tie the head the way Kilgore does, clipping off the butts parallel to the hook leaving a "V" shaped head. I apply a drop or two of head cement to the cut off butts... it seems to help hold the elk hair wing in place and the hairs don't slip out as easily.

Hackle: Heavily hackled for fast water. Some folks tie with hackles pointing forward to be able to skitter them easily on top of the water. Some folks also use hackle that are "undersized" for the hook.. for example using 16 size hackle on a 14 hook. This puts the hackle just slightly past the barb and causes the EHC to ride parallel to the water surface, or use 14 hackle on a 14 hook and cut the inverted "V" shape on the bottom as kengore described to keep the fly from tipping over. Some tie this w/o any hackle for slow water so it rides flush with the film (tho you can accomplish the same thing by cutting the hackle off the bottom.)

Wing: A lot of folks tie the wings so that the tips are even with the bend of the hook, rather than extending beyond the bend... I've heard that some feel that a trout is more apt to push the fly away with its nose when it rises to the fly if the wings extend too far back... can't say it's been a problem for me since the way my flies turn out it's the least of my worries.

Rib: Couldn't tell from the pic, but some folks use a thin wire rib to help hold the hackle in place... mostly to be able to use it on several fish, since w/o a rib the hackle is more likely to unravel if cut by a tooth.

Here's a link to an EHC on Han's excellent site:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... 1%26sa%3DN

You can see that the wings are even with the bend and the hackle is pretty dense and looks "undersize", but the wingbutts aren't cut into the large "V" shaped caddis head...

Shuck: Some folks add a z-lon shuck as a "tail" to their caddis... especially those without hackle for slow water (sparkle caddis). It makes it look especially vulnerable as a caddis emerging from it's shuck and adds to floatation.

It looks like you have a good hand, and I hope you're having fun as you tie. Best thing to do is to tie a ton of the same pattern until you have it "down" to the way you want it. The great thing about EHC's is that you can just switch around hackle, body color, and sizes to imitate a ton of different ones while you do it. Patterns like Comparaduns or Sparkle Duns allow you to do the same thing for mayflies with a minimal "start up" cost since you don't need a bunch of different hackle colors.

Good luck! Hopefully you'll get a chance to take them on a test drive real soon.

peregrines

[ScottP]

If I were a fish, I'd bite. There's lots of ways to skin an EHC - everyone has their own way to tie them and they all seem to work. I leave the head long and don't trim (butt my scissors against the hook eye and cut) until I've finished the fly (half hitch or whip) and I stop my wing at the bend. I also stopped using a wire rib to re-enforce the hackle and instead leave the tag-end of the thread long at the back of the fly and wind that through the hackle. Best advice I could give is take some of the suggestions you've been given and tie up a few dozen; you'll get better with practice.

Regards,
Scott

[Hans Weilenmann]

jeliask,

Can do worse than look at the original - an Al Troth tied Elk Hair Caddis





Cheers,
Hans W

[jeliask]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I just started tying this winter and spent most of it getting pike flies ready for Canada. Going to a size 14 and up from a huge pike streamer taking some adjusting. Thanks again for all the comments. Back to the vise now!

Jeff

[Warm Water Fly Fisher]

looks like you added what appears to be dubbing in front of your head, blocking the eye a bit, hope that makes sense. otherwise it looks pretty good

[perch]

Good looking fly,
I've just gotten done with another tying class.
The sugjestion was to try some foam under the hackle to give it a bit more "floatability".
Just a thought . I tyed up half a dozen just to give em a whirl.
Will post results when I get back from A WEEK of fishing.