CDC & Elk

Dry fly imitating caddis, for trout. Intermediate. Hans Weilenmann, 1992.

A single CDC feather wound from the tip to make body and soft hackle, and a fine deer hair wing whose square-cut butts form the head.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at halfway along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns.
  3. Tie in: natural dun cdc feather (one, wound) Tie in a bunch of natural dun cdc feather (one, wound) with a few firm thread turns. By its tip, the tip barbs stroked together.
  4. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 78% of the way along the shank in touching turns. Then one turn back.
  5. Wind: natural dun cdc feather (one, wound) Wind the natural dun cdc feather (one, wound) forward to 78% of the way along the shank in 7 turns. Touching turns, stroking the barbs back after each; the rear turns make the body, the front ones a soft collar.
  6. Tie off: natural dun cdc feather (one, wound) Tie off the natural dun cdc feather (one, wound) with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  7. Tie in: fine-tipped deer hair Tie in a bunch of fine-tipped deer hair so the tips reach just past the end of the bend (2.15× the gape from the tie-in point), angled about 12° up from the shank. Let it flare out round the sides of the body. Stacked; butts trimmed square first so they end just behind the eye.
  8. Trim: fine-tipped deer hair Trim the butts of the fine-tipped deer hair, leaving a short head 0.15× the gape long. Short flared stubs make the head.
  9. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. In front of the butts, under the stubs.

History

The Dutch tyer Hans Weilenmann designed it in 1992 as a reworking of Al Troth's Elk Hair Caddis, which had been one of his most reliable dry flies since a trip to Montana in 1982. Looking for a fly that floated better and moved more, he replaced the dubbed body and palmered hackle with one whole CDC feather, stem and all. Despite the name, he ties the wing with fine-tipped deer hair.

Fishing it

A low-riding caddis that Weilenmann also uses during many mayfly hatches, as a searching fly when nothing is hatching, as an emerger, and even wet. Greased with floatant it rides higher; left untreated, the CDC soaks up water and it fishes as an emerger or cripple. Use less hair in the wing for smooth water and more for broken water.

Sources