Bodkin / Patterns

Elk Hair Caddis

Dry Fly · Trout · Grayling · Intermediate · 8 versions

Classic Recipe

Mount hook, start thread and lay a base to the bend.
Tie in 4 inches of fine gold wire at the bend, then a brown or grizzly hackle by the tip.
Dub a tapered hare's ear body forward to the 65% mark. Thin at the rear, fuller at the front.
Palmer the hackle forward through the body in 4-5 evenly spaced turns.
Counter-wrap the gold wire through the hackle, wiggling it side to side so you don't trap fibers. Tie off the wire and helicopter the end to break it clean.
Cut, clean, and stack a medium bunch of elk hair. Measure it. Tips should reach the bend. Tie it in with 2 loose pinch wraps, then pull tight so the hair flares but doesn't spin.
Lift the butt ends and put 2-3 wraps under them, then trim the butts square, leaving a short flared head over the eye.
Whip finish under the head.

Body instead of Hare's ear dubbing: Tan Superfine dubbing — Smoother body, floats better; Olive dubbing — Matches green caddis species; Peacock herl — Classic variation, buggier look, great in smaller sizes; Black dubbing — Matches dark caddis, good for evening; Green dubbing — Matches Hydropsyche caddis
Hackle instead of Brown or grizzly: Grizzly hackle — More visible in broken water; Ginger hackle — Lighter, good for pale evening caddis; No hackle at all — Sits flush in film, good for slow water
Wing instead of Elk hair: Deer hair — Finer texture, better for small sizes (16-20); Yearling elk — Finer than adult elk, great for size 16+; Coastal deer hair (bleached) — More hollow, floats higher; CDC feathers — Completely different look but deadly, CDC Elk variant
Rib instead of Fine gold wire: Fine copper wire — Darker tone, same function; Fine silver wire — Brighter, good contrast on dark bodies; No rib — Skip it, mainly for durability, fly still fishes fine

7 more in the app: Fischer's Flies, BCFlyguys, BCFlyguys (2), CDC & Elk (Hans Weilenmann), No-Hackle Low-Rider, Fly Fish Food Tie, Barbless.