Skues pattern developed in the 1920’s, apparently Al Troth based his Elk Hair Caddis on it. Saw it tied somewhere by Datus Proper and thought it would be fun to try one out; pretty easy to tie, can’t wait to fish it.
hook - Dai Riki 305 #16
thread - Uni 8/0 rusty brown
rib - copper wire x-small
abdomen - hare’s ear dubbing
body hackle - brown (undersize by 2)
wing - hen pheasant
front hackle - brown (standard size)
Part 1
mash barb, attach thread at 75% mark and tie in body hackle
tie in wire rib
and wrap back to point above hook barb
apply some dubbing
and wrap forward to initial tie-in
palmer hackle back to hook bend; trap tip with wire and continue wrapping wire to initial tie in, helicopter wire and tie off; trim top hackle flat with body (not shown)
pull some fibers from a hen pheasant breast feather and align the tips
If I may make an observation, I suspect you missed a step. Before tying in the wing the body hackle is trimmed off on top of the shank. The 9th and 10th pictures seem to show the wing mounted on with the body hackle intact from 11 onward it is trimmed.
I knew it to be a Skues’ pattern but didn’t realise it was Al Troth’s inspiration. You have educated me there.
Well done, its good to see the classic trout flies are not forgotten.
Thanks for mentioning that; I’ll edit the post. Original recipe didn’t call for it, but I found it easier to lay the wing down with the top body hackle trimmed and it doesn’t effect floatation.
P.S. Wisdom of the Guides is a really neat collection of interviews with a dozen well known Rocky Mountain guides from the late '90’s based on interviews conducted by Bulletin Board member Paul Arnold. You can check out my book review from early December '12 in the Reader’s Voice Forum. The book is still available from FAOL Sponsor Amato Publications.
