For the fourth installment of his Facebook Live series “Tying with Tom,” Tom focused on one of the most popular dry flies of all time: the Elk-Hair Caddis. In a 1978 article in Fly Tyer, the fly’s inventor, Al Troth, claimed that he had set out to develop a wet fly for his Pennsylvania streams, but his design ended up floating so well that he stuck with it. The pattern became so popular among fly fishermen because it does, in fact, float like a cork and you can fish it so many different ways: dead-drifted, skittering on the surface, stripped in the surface film, or even as a diving caddis.
For the foreseeable future, we will be doing these “Tying with Tom” events every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern, so keep an eye on here, as well as on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Here’s the recipe, if you want to tie along:
Elk Hair Caddis
Hook: Standard dry-fly hook, sizes 10-18.
Thread: Brown or tan, 6/0 or 140-denier.
Rib: Fine gold wire.
Body Hackle: Brown.
Body: Tan fur dubbing.
Wing: Bull-elk hair.
Enjoyed the FB live tying session. Looking forward to the next one.
Nice video and tie Tom. I’d forgot about the incremental tying down of the butts, so many thanks Tom for putting me back on track! Regards, Gary
Tom great video, I was not on live so I could not ask, do you ever give your caddis a haircut before placing the wing on? I do this with Caddis and Prince Nymphs. It seems to help!
Thanks for all you do!