Hook 1X-long dry fly hook, #12-16 (12 shown; 14-16 for most Yellow Sallies and caddis)
Thread Red for the egg sac, yellow for the body 8/0
Materials
Evazote foam, 1/8 in. (Rainy's) Yellow mm foam (One strip a bit under 1/16 in. wide)
Elk hair Natural light (bull elk) (Three tiny pinches, about a third of a normal Elk Hair Caddis wing each)
Dry fly saddle hackle Coachman brown dry fly saddle hackle (One feather for the front collar)
Flexament Clear head cement (A tiny drop at each wing segment)
How to tie it
Start red thread and wrap back to the bend, building a prominent red egg sac that comes down slightly onto the bend. Carry the red thread forward to make a smooth base along the whole shank, then whip finish and cut it. It will be covered, so its color doesn't matter beyond the egg sac.
Attach yellow thread in the middle of the shank and trim the tag.
Cut a very thin strip of 1/8 in. yellow evazote foam and tie it in at the rear, just ahead of the egg sac. Foam crushes easily, so pull it tight at the tie-in to minimize bulk.
Wind the foam forward one or two turns without pulling it tight. You want the cells open for flotation and color, and tie it off at the one-third point. Do not cut it; the same strip builds the whole body.
Comb and stack a tiny pinch of natural light elk hair and tie it in at that one-third point as the first wing section, tips reaching just past the bend. Trim the butts, add a couple of wraps, and touch a tiny drop of Flexament to the thread wraps.
Wrap the foam forward over the wraps and hair to the two-thirds point, tie it off, and tie in the second identical pinch of stacked elk, matching the tips to the first wing. Trim, wrap, and add another tiny drop of Flexament.
Wrap the foam forward one or two more turns, then pull it tight and trim it off. The excess sinks down and disappears. Back the thread off slightly and tie in the third pinch of stacked elk, again matching the tips to the first two, so you now have a three-part tented spade wing.
Trim the butts and wrap a tapered thread base up to near the eye, then add a small drop of Flexament to that base to sink the hackle into.
Tie in the Coachman brown saddle hackle and wind it forward down the tapered head, tie off, hold the tip up, secure with two or three wraps and trim.
Wet your fingers and comb the hackle barbs back, form and finish the head, then play the wing sections side to side to spread the tent shape.