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Elk Hair Caddis
Elk Hair Caddis
About the Elk Hair Caddis
The Elk Hair Caddis was invented by Pennsylvanian Al Troth; a famous name in the world of fly fishing. The great thing about Al's caddis pattern is that by changing the materials slightly it is possible to immitate nearly every caddis hatch in the world. While many traditional patterns have gone by the wayside to newer ones; the Elk Hair caddis is a go to and standard caddis pattern for most all in Montana.
Al's original pattern is tied more sparse and he adds durability to the fly by adding wire overlaying the hackle. This technique makes the fly stronger but adds an extra step. The video above is the quick version as we are concentrating on fly tying videos made to simplify fly tying for fishability. However, if you wish to tie to the Elk Hair Caddis to proper form tie wire in the back instead of the saddle hackle, tie in your dubbing the same and then add your saddle hackle in front. Wrap the saddle hackle back towards the bend of the hook and then hold it in place by wraping the wire up to the eyelet. This will make you hackle lay back nicely and the wire will make the fly tough. If you are like us however, you will lose a large number of these flies to mistakes, big trout, terrible casts, etc...and so we tie them often skipping a few steps.
- Hook: Standard length dry fly hook in size 8-18
- Hackle: Brown Whiting dry fly saddle hackle
- Body: Hares Ear antron dubbing (can also use black, olive, orange, etc)
- Thread: Any color to match caddis in 6/0 or 140 denier ultra thread
- Wing: Elk or Deer hair
About the Elk Hair Caddis
The Elk Hair Caddis was invented by Pennsylvanian Al Troth; a famous name in the world of fly fishing. The great thing about Al's caddis pattern is that by changing the materials slightly it is possible to immitate nearly every caddis hatch in the world. While many traditional patterns have gone by the wayside to newer ones; the Elk Hair caddis is a go to and standard caddis pattern for most all in Montana.
Al's original pattern is tied more sparse and he adds durability to the fly by adding wire overlaying the hackle. This technique makes the fly stronger but adds an extra step. The video above is the quick version as we are concentrating on fly tying videos made to simplify fly tying for fishability. However, if you wish to tie to the Elk Hair Caddis to proper form tie wire in the back instead of the saddle hackle, tie in your dubbing the same and then add your saddle hackle in front. Wrap the saddle hackle back towards the bend of the hook and then hold it in place by wraping the wire up to the eyelet. This will make you hackle lay back nicely and the wire will make the fly tough. If you are like us however, you will lose a large number of these flies to mistakes, big trout, terrible casts, etc...and so we tie them often skipping a few steps.
