Elk Hair Caddis (Troth original)
Dry fly imitating caddis, for trout and grayling. Intermediate. Al Troth, 1957.
The Elk Hair Caddis after Troth's 1978 article: a copper wire rib, and the hair butts left long instead of trimmed into a neat head.
Materials
- Hook: Dry fly hook, standard shank, size 14
- Thread: Tan thread, 8/0
- Rib: Copper wire
- Body: Tan dry fly dubbing
- Hackle: Brown cock hackle, fibres 0.8× gape
- Wing: Bleached elk hair
Steps
- Attach thread Attach the thread at 85% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
- Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns.
- Tie in: copper wire Tie in the copper wire with a few firm thread turns.
- Dub: tan dry fly dubbing Twist a thin noodle of tan dry fly dubbing onto the thread and wrap it forward to 75% of the way along the shank.
- Tie in: brown cock hackle Tie in the brown cock hackle with a few firm thread turns.
- Palmer: brown cock hackle Palmer the brown cock hackle back to 5% of the way along the shank in 5 open turns.
- Wind: copper wire Wind the copper wire forward to 75% of the way along the shank in 5 turns through the brown cock hackle. The first turn traps its tip.
- Tie off: copper wire Tie off the copper wire with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
- Trim: brown cock hackle Trim the tip of the brown cock hackle close to the body.
- Tie in: bleached elk hair Tie in a bunch of bleached elk hair so the tips reach just past the end of the bend (2.3× the gape from the tie-in point), angled about 27° up from the shank. Let it flare out round the sides of the body.
- Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. Whip finish behind the hair; the butts stay long.
History
Troth described the fly in Fly Tyer in 1978 (the Fall issue; some give November). The Golden Fly Shop's account of the article has a body of fine copper wire, dubbing and rooster hackle, which this variant follows; Fly Tyer's own reprint of his dressing, the Federation of Fly Fishers' 1998 Fly of the Month and the Fly Fishers International (FFI) skills award version give fine gold wire instead. Fly Tyer notes that the article does not mention the clipped-hair head, which other tyers added. The FFI version, meant to be as close to Troth's original as possible, still clips the butts, but at an angle in line with the wing rather than square.