One of Harrop's CDC Caddis patterns

[Byron haugh]

Hi,

Stuck home today. Sorry to bother you, but I've been tying some new patterns and thought maybe others might be interested?

[JohnScott]

Nice tying on a neat fly.

That has been one of my very productive caddis patterns, with a slight variation as tied by Leslie Harrop at a fly tying class at Jimmy's All Seasons Angler about six years ago. The variation, as Leslie tied it, was a biot body and CDC only for the wing, no partridge ( or whatever it is that you added, Byron ).

I did my own variation on Leslie's pattern, using deer hair for the wing rather than CDC. It was rather curious that on some streams either the CDC or deer hair version would work, but not both. On most streams either worked equally well.

Just something to keep in mind as an alternative, and for those who want to conserve CDC.

John

[dr korn]

Byron, that is an excellent fly and beautifully tied. I like this Harrop pattern a lot and fish it frequently both here in the East and in the YNP area as well with equal success. PS. Tan bodies work best for me.... I tie them down to size #20's...

[Byron haugh]

thanks doc.

I will keep that in mind.

[Steven]

Beautiful, beautiful tie.

How does the CDC hold up? Does it remain in the classic tent shape (I find this hard to believe, but don't know)? Or does it flatten out and really imitate a spent?

Not that it matters, as long as it works.

[EdD]

Byron, that's a nice-looking fly. Amazon told me that Rene Harrop's Caddis Lifecycle DVD is on my front step. I got the Mayfly Lifecycle DVD a couple of weeks ago and it is excellent. Watching him use a whip finish tool was a real eye-opener.

Ed

[Byron haugh]

EdD,
What I found really interesting was the home made tools used to apply head cement; and clean the eye of the hook. Did you notice?

[Byron haugh]

Beautiful, beautiful tie.

How does the CDC hold up? Does it remain in the classic tent shape (I find this hard to believe, but don't know)? Or does it flatten out and really imitate a spent?

Not that it matters, as long as it works.

Thanks Steven. That is a good question. It is actually tied relatively flat. I believe that, by far, the most "floating" caddis on the water are spent caddis. Normally, when the pupa bursts through to the surface, they almost immediately fly off - unlike the mayfly dun which has to wait for it wings to dry off. I will see if I can get more info on why Rene's pattern is tied with a relatively flat wing, but I am inclined to believe it is to primarily represent a spent caddis.

[EdD]

EdD,
What I found really interesting was the home made tools used to apply head cement; and clean the eye of the hook. Did you notice?

Yes, I noticed his "high-tech" solutions. The head cement applicator appears to by a dowel sharpened in a pencil sharpener with a bit of plastic, perhaps from a plastic milk carton as a cap to keep air out from drying his glue too fast. It would also keep glue from running down the stick to his fingers, if he should get too much on his applicator. His hook eye cleaner appeared to be another dowel, whittled to a more acute point. The man is clearly a pro tyer, as evidenced by the way he uses his tools, be they humble or otherwise.

The caddis video showed me a whole new definition of the term "dubbing loop". Watching those cruising trout at the end was fun, too.


Regards,
Ed