Tag Archives: Dry Fly

caddis, Dry Fly

CDC & Elk Variant

4 Comments

The CDC & Elk is one of my favorite dry flies for fishing small creeks throughout the season, but always one of the first I tie on. This is one of my most productive variations on Hans Weilenmann’s infamous original. I tie the fly in a variety of colours using CDC in yellow, olive and dun. Hans recommends using a type 4 CDC feather to tie this pattern(check out this excellent CDC article for feather types http://globalflyfisher.com/tie-better/tying-with-cdc). Luckily, most of the CDC you get will be type 4. I use a single feather for sizes 16 and smaller and 2 feathers on #14 or larger. I change up the wing between dark or light hair and often carry both in the box, using the wing as an indicator on a dropper set-up. The contrasting wing color makes the fly easy to spot on the water.

For the olive color, the golden brown ice dubbing is a nice compliment. For other colors, UV pearl is my goto color for ice dubbing. I like to just add enough for an accent and not to overdo it.

CDC & Elk Variant Fly Pattern recipe

Hook: Firehole 315 #12-18
Thread: Olive 8/0 (70d)
Body: CDC type 1 or 4
Accent: Ice Dubbing (Golden Brown)
Wing: Elk or deer hair

CDC & Elk variation
CDC & Elk variation

Sources

Youtube Channel: Piscator Flies
Web: Piscator Flies
Instagram: piscatorflies
Twitter: piscatorflies
Facebook: piscatorflies

Share
Emerger

Danica Emerger Fly tied by William Ensiferum

Leave a comment

William ties a really beautiful fly. This emerger is one of the nicest I’ve seen in a while. The body uses 3 hairs from elk and moose so that there is a color difference in the body. This combination gives the body the look if a stripped peacock quill body. It is reinforced with a coating of UV resin, creating a durable fly body.

The floating portion of the fly is comprised of snowshoe hare feet and deer hair. The fly will float wonderfully while the body dips into the drink. I can’t wait until spring to give this pattern a throw.

Danica Emerger Fly Tying Pattern Recipe

Hook: Gamakatsu F22 #10
Thread: UTC 70 white
Body: Elk Hair or Moose Mane Hair
Resin: UV Resin
Tail: Pheasant Tail
Thorax and Legs: Snowshoe Hare
Wing: Winter Deer Hair

Sources

Youtube Channel: William Ensiferum

Share
Dry Fly, Emerger, Fly Tying Video, Grayling Fly, mayfly

Bubble Wing Caenis tied by Davie McPhail

1 Comment

This little CDC Bubble Wing Caenis tied by Davie is a magical little dry/emerger fly pattern. The bubble wing is constructed with loops of CDC and this pattern will really float high. The Canis is tied using high contrasting white and natural gray CDC which should help keep it visible in a variety of lighting conditions. This style looks promising, and I’ll be tying a few versions for this week’s trout opener.

Bubble Wing Caenis fly pattern recipe

Hook: Fulling Mill All-Purpose Medium size 16
Thread: White Giorgio Beneccchi
Tail: Light Speckled Coq de Leon Fibres
Body: White CDC Feather
Wing: Two Natural Grey CDC Feathers
Thorax: White CDC Dubbing

Sources

Youtube Channel: Davie McPhail
Youtube Video: Bubble Wing Caenis Fly pattern

Share