Antenna on EHC?

[Byron haugh]

Anyone put antenna on your Elk Hair Caddis. I rarely see this, and most say it makes little, if any, difference, but just wonder what you think.
Thanks

[OldBear]

No I have not seen it. But that looks ok. Its what ever you want it to look like Byron. The fis don't care they are just looking for a nice fat bug to snack on.

Best Regards, Ken

[AlanB]

To me there are two distinct kinds of dry caddis imitation. Those I tie to fish static, and those I tie to wake across the surface. For static flies I will sometimes (when the mood takes me) tie them with antenna. Those I pull I don't. The reason is that when I first tied the G&H Sedge the hackle stem antenna seemed to catch in the surface and cause the fly not to skate how I wanted it to. Since then I have never put them on caddis flies intended to fish this way.
Cheers,
A.

[johnstoeckel]

I don't add the antenna on the EHC or even on the Goddard Caddis which does call for them.

A little too much hassle in tying and also on the stream when tying the tippet to fly and it doesn't seem to make much, if any, difference to the fish. However, that may depend on the specific type of caddis and fishing situation. I mostly fish hatches of smaller caddis on moving water, but I could see that fishing a hatch of larger caddis with prominent antenna on still water might make a difference.

[Byron haugh]

Or, maybe even an X-Caddis with them?

[brucerap]

I think if they don't realize there's a hunk of sharpened, bent steel sticking out of the butt of the bug they're about to eat, they won't care if it does or doesn't have antennae.

[Byron haugh]

AlanB and John,
Good points. Thanks for the input.

[hap]

A far bigger problem in my experience with the antennae is the leader twisting they cause during casting. I now leave them off any fly I intend to cast.