Most of the trout waters I fish here in Upstate NY are
rather placid. There is not a whole lot of whitewater
to be found here locally. Our waters are much different
than the fast moving waters that I have been so lucky to
fish out West. It was tough to keep smaller dry flies
(12-16) afloat. We were doing well on gray Caddis dries
fishing the Gallatin, Boulder and Yellowstone. So, while
tying flies at the FFF National Conclave in Livingston,
MT, Ed Alves and I simply loaded up the flies with lots
of CDC. That afternoon our dries were floating high and
getting a lot of attention from the 14-23" Browns, Cutt's
and Rainbows. This pattern has found a permanent space
in my box.
Materials: CDC Caddis
Tying Steps:
1. Place R48 hook into vice and secure the thread to the
hook up near the eye and wrap the thread back to just before
the hook begins to curve.
2. Dub SLF dubbing onto thread. Wrap forward so whole tying
length is dubbed.
3. Procure yourself 1 or 2 good CDC feathers. Secure the
feather(s) so that they extend to just behind the bend of the hook.
Try and keep the head as small as possible. The more CDC on this
fly the better.
4. Tie in small clump of bleached Elk Hair.
NOTE: If you have some good CDC with short hackles you can
palmer the CDC the whole length of the shank instead of tying
it on top. If you do this there is no need to do a dubbed body.
(See Photo of CDC Caddis Variant, below). Yes, it's ugly but the fish
really love it.
5. Find a rising fish, cast and hold on!
~ Jeff Pierce, (Dr. Fish)
Fishing Instructions
This is a great little bombproof fly. It floats high and the
fish love it. Lots of CDC makes this fly hold up well in fast
riffles and holds up to multiple fish. I tend to fish the
smaller sizes (14-16) here in Upstate New York and fish the
larger sizes (8-12) out in Montana. ~ Jeff Pierce
