Wings on EHC

[holensum]

Ok experienced tiers, I need some clarification about the wing on the Elk Hair Caddis.

I am getting ready to tie some up for my standard box in 12 - 20 and before I start I am wondering why the recipes call for the wing to be about hook shank length, when on the real thing the wing is actually about 2x the body length. Is the length because "it has always been done that way" or is the some rational reason for the imitation to have wings much some much shorter than the natural?

Maybe I should just tie some short wing and some long wing and see which works best.

[NJTroutbum]

Holensum,

The EHC is a "fluttering caddis" immitation. You are correct, when a caddis fly is at rest and it's wings are in a resting "tent" position, they are much longer. But the EHC is supposed to give the impression of wings while fluttering, or in motion. That's also what lends it so well to "skittering" it across the surface to entice a strike.

Ralph

[Byron haugh]

Holensum,

I really enjoy questions that challenge "conventional thinking". I think because I have a lot of such questions on my own.
Not all caddis flies have a folded wing which is 2X the body length. Here is an example.




However, I tend to agree, somewhat, that caddis fly imitations are a bit short-winged. The dimension generally sited for caddis flies is that the wing should extend to the bend of the hook. It is not just limited to the Elk Hair Caddis.

There are some caddis patterns which call for the wing to extend beyond the body. These are usually the spent versions which are definitely caddis "at rest" on the water.

In some patterns, the length of the wing can affect the balance of the fly on the water.

[holensum]

Thanks guys. Now I see and understand why the wing is shank length.

[Joe Billingsley]

So, if you tie your EHC with the wings flared (which, I think, the original was) they should be about shank length, but if you try to keep them from flaring too much and have them more of a down or tent-type wing they should/could be longer?

Joe

[NJTroutbum]

Joe,

You can tie them at any length desired, but EHC's tend to land on their backs more often if the wing is too heavy, or too long from my experience. If you go longer, then try to stay on the sparse side of things. Most longer-winged caddis imitations are feather-winged.

Ralph

[Allan]

There are some excellent books out there about caddies flies and patterns. I like this one : The Caddis and the Angler by Soloman & Leiser. Also, Len Wright wrote a lot about caddises and developed some patterns that are in his book, Fly Fishing Heresies(?), i.e. delta wing caddis, several recipes for fluttering caddis.
As far as length of wing of the caddis dry fly - I was taught that, for tying purposes, it's 1-1/2x longer then the body. For the emerging caddis, it's less so.

[Steven]

Ok experienced tiers, I need some clarification about the wing on the Elk Hair Caddis.

I am getting ready to tie some up for my standard box in 12 - 20 and before I start I am wondering why the recipes call for the wing to be about hook shank length, when on the real thing the wing is actually about 2x the body length. Is the length because "it has always been done that way" or is the some rational reason for the imitation to have wings much some much shorter than the natural?

Maybe I should just tie some short wing and some long wing and see which works best.

I've been away from the computer for a bit.

Anyway, I've always been under the impression that the wing should extend to the hook bend (the full length of the hook not including the eye). In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it suggested that the wing should only be shank length.

From Charlies Fly Box SBS. http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/fly...fm?parentID=44

And if you look in the Intermediate Fly Tying section of FAOL, you can see that the late Al Campbell tied the wing long as well..

[Byron haugh]

I think many tiers refer to the "bend" as the "beginning of the bend" and that might be the confusion?

I have heard many great tiers say " Take your thread back to the bend". - and they really mean the START of the bend.

[Steven]

I think many tiers refer to the "bend" as the "beginning of the bend" and that might be the confusion?

I have heard many great tiers say " Take your thread back to the bend". - and they really mean the START of the bend.

Fair enough, but I think I've heard it explicitly said: "Take your thread back to the start of the bend..."

From Charlie Craven:
Cut the butt ends off the hair at the point where the hair is equal to the length of the hook, from the rear edge of the hook eye to the rear edge of the bend.