Fresh Water Fly

Elk Hair Caddis Variant

This is a dry fly favoured by trout fisherman in small streams

Materials

Tying Instructions

Take the hackle and stroke from tip to base to get the barbs ar right angles to stem.

Tie in the hackle base end above the barb with the tip facing back.

Spin a slender dubbing noodle using the rabbit then wrap forward to form the body.

Tie off behind the eye leaving room for the head of the fly.

Wrap the hackle forward in even turns to the same point and tie off.

Take a bunch of elk hair (size to match the hook). Pull out the fluff at the base.

Stack in a stacker to get the tips even.

Tie in the wing behind the hook eye. The wing should be slightly longer than the hook.

Cuta way all the elk hair that extends beyond the hook eye and the form a thread head over the deer hair.

Montana Nymph

Materials

Tying Instructions

Tie in a hen hackle at this point (hackle must match gape of hook about 30% wider) Then tie in the cactus chenille wrap forward leaving room for the head and tie off.

Wrap the hackle carefully through the thorax about 3 turns and tie off.

Pull the body chenille forward over the thorax to form the wing case and tie off at the eye.

Make a neat cotton head and cement making sure the eye does not become clogged with cement.

Bret gave us a good tip for cleaning the eye of the hook, he pulls the left over piece of hackle through the eye. This cleans it up very nicely.

The Scrambled Egg

A hybrid between a standard Crystal Dubbing Egg and Jim Pettis’s Unreal Egg

Materials

Tying Instructions

Take note, rather use the least amount of Egg Yarn as you are using it to create a translucent ‘cocoon’.

Cut a 8cm section of Egg Yarn – this is then split in the length as you will only be using half of the original diameter of egg yarn to tie this fly.

This section is then split lengthwise once more, keep the other section as this will be used in the next step. (You should be left with two ¼ pieces of Egg Yarn)

Tie this section in on top of the shank and secure with two turns of thread; the section you will be using must be facing toward the eye of the hook as you will eventually tie off at the back of the hook (closer to the bend)

Now split this tied in Section and then using your thumb and index finger, turn this split section on the shank so that it is now located at the bottom of the shank.

Viewed from the top is should look like a Y.

Step Two:

Tie in the Section of egg yarn that was kept aside in step one on top and middle of the shank.

Now take a couple of turns toward the eye of the hook to secure both sections of Egg Yarn ( the newly tied in section and that piece located on the bottom of the shank)

The finished fly must be located in the middle of the shank so be sure to leave enough space behind the eye.

At this point you should have three ‘pieces’ of egg yarn sticking out towards the front of the hook over the eye.

Step Three:

Spin the dubbing onto the thread and form a round underbody the size of the actual egg.

Start in the middle of the shank, cover those wraps that secure the egg yarn and end off towards the back of the hook.

Your thread should be located behind the egg body at this point as this is where you will tie in the Egg Yarn.

Optional : Cut away any strands of dubbing that protrude past the actual body of the fly.

Step Four:

You now take each piece of each yarn individually and for the ‘cocoon’ around the dubbed body. Start with the section you tied in first and that is located on the top of the shank.

Pull it over the top and to the back of the dubbed body covering the top half of the body and while trapping it with two loose turns of thread, leave some slack in the yarn as to form a bubble in the material. You can also use a needle to ‘lift’ the Egg Yarn off of the dubbed body as to achieve the desired effect.

Now repeat this step for the other two pieces of yarn covering the bottom half of the body.

Making sure that the egg yarn covers 90% of the body in a translucent ‘cocoon’, whip finnish and cover thread wraps with head cement.

Crippled Dun

A dry fly which does well for trout.

Materials

Tying Instructions

2) Tie in the chuck, this should be longer than the hook the hook.

3) Tie in the wing leaving enough room for the head (about 1/4 from eye) using figure of 8 wraps.

4)Pull the wings upright and secure in this position using a few wraps of thread around the base.

5)Return the thread to the point where the shuck is tied in. Dub the thread forming a tapered noodle. Note: When viewing from the top the dubbing should be twisted in a clockwise direction to prevent unwinding as it is wrapped around the hook shank. (reverse for Left Handed tyers)

6) Wrap the dubbing forward forming a tapered body.

7) Tie in the hackle just behind the wing with the tip toward the back of the fly.

8) Dub the hoohshank right up to the eye forming the thorax and head.

9) Now wrap the hackle forward, two turns behing the wing and two turns in front, Tie off and whip finish.

10) Pull the wing upward and trim just above he hackle tips.

11) Turn the fly and trim the hackle directly below the body forming an inverted V when viewed from the front.

RAB

One of SA’s most famous dry flies, the Red Arsed Bastard

Materials

Tying Instructions

2) Tie in a mixture of white and brown hackle fibres above the barb.

3) Wrap the thread forward 1/3 of shank.

4) Tie in a bunch of about 5 pheasant tail fibres at their mid point with the tips pointing forward.

5) Wrap the butt ends of the pheasant tail forward forming a body and tie off .

6) Spread the pheasant tail tips evenly around the hook shank and secure in position with a few wraps.

7) Tie in the Brown hackle just ahead of the legs with the shiny side and tip facing back.

8) Tie in the other hackle behind the hook eye with tip facing forward (leave enough room for a small thread head) The thread should now be just behind the hook eye.

9)Wrap the brown hackle forward to where the thread is.

10) Wrap the thread back through the hackle to just in front of the legs. Trim off the brown hackle tip.

11) Now wrap the white hackle back through the brown hackle toward the legs then wrap the thread forward to behind the hook eye securing the hackle in place.

12) Form a small thread head and tie off.

CDC & Elk

This version of the Elk Hair Caddis was developed by Hans Weilenmann.

Materials

Tying Instructions

2) Wrap the CDC forward around the hook shank forming the body.

3) As the CDC gets closer to the hook eye more and moor loose strands of feather appear. Stroke these back away from the hook eye and tie off just behind the eye. Leave enough room for the wing and head.

4) Stack a small clump of Elk hair and tie in the wing with a few tight turns. The wing should not extend beyond the bend of the hook.

5) Form a neat head under the Elk hair, whip finish and apply a drop of head cement.

Hans Weilenmann Fishing Instruction Quote