On The Fly
"Fly tying is a school from which we never graduate"
TYING NEWS
The Southern Oregon Fly Tiers met Tuesday, March 11th at the Madrone Hill community building near Gold Hill. We continued our monthly series of guest tiers in a tie-along format. Our guest, Otis Swisher, demonstrated two of his “pond” patterns and a winter hatch “blue dun” fly. In April we have scheduled Ron Metzger to present an introduction to tube flies. For those who have never tied tube flies before, this is a great opportunity to get started. For $12 we will provide the special tool, tubes, hooks, and materials. For those that own the tools and tubes, there won’t be a charge. We encourage novice and experienced tiers alike to drop by the second Tuesday of each month for a fun evening, we have plenty of room for everyone. If you are interested in this educational experience, contact me and we will add your name to our e-mail list. We can let you know who, when, and what materials to bring.
PATTERN OF THE MONTH - Mugly Caddis
Hook: Daiichi 1100, wide gape,
dry fly hook, size 12-20.
Thread: Tan 6/0.
Abdomen: Long-fiber dubbing, color to match natural.
Underwing: Natural CDC.
Overwing: Natural cow elk body hair.
Thorax: Same as abdomen.
Tying Instructions:
1) Start the thread one-eye width behind the eye and wind the thread
rearward laying down a thread base to just above the barb.
2) Form a dubbing loop, insert dubbing fairly thick, and wind the
dubbing loop forward to form the abdomen. Stop winding at ¼ shank
length from the eye, tie off and clip excess.
3) Select two matched CDC feathers and even the tips. Clump them into a
bunch, measure to one shank length, and tie in the feathers at the
front edge of the abdomen. Clip the butts and tie off.
4) Select a small bunch of elk hair. Clean and stack the elk hair, and
measure so it is the same length as the CDC underwing. Tie the elk hair
in at the base of the CDC and secure it with tight thread wraps. Clip
the butts at an angle and cover with smooth thread wraps tapered to
just behind the eye.
5) Return the thread to the base of the elk hair. Apply dubbing and
wrap the dubbing forward to the edge of the hook eye.
6) Form a small head, whip-finish and apply cement. Pick out the
dubbing on the thorax and abdomen to enhance the halo effect.
At first glance the Mugly Caddis looks like a poorly
tied Elk Hair Caddis with a shaggy body and a sparser wing. But those
are the exact differences that give this pattern the ability to catch
trout when the old stand by just doesn’t work. This fly pattern was
developed by Charlie Craven in Colorado after a trip to the Henry’s
Fork. The shaggy dubbing and the CDC underwing provide more movement
and better floatation than just elk hair. The pattern could imitate a
“stuck in the shuck” caddis, trapped partially in its nymphal shuck.
The long fibered dubbing imitates the struggling legs of the natural
and the dubbing traps air bubbles to closer mimic the emerging caddis.
This fly can be fished both dry and wet. Charlie says
he sometimes lets it swing under at the end of the drift. He also
claims the pattern can draw some incredibly aggressive strikes, so keep
your rod tip low to avoid breaking the fish off on the strike.
TYING TIPS
Obviously, you can vary the hook size and body color
to match the naturals. The key is to select the right type of dubbing.
Natural hair works best as long as it has the guard hairs included.
When you pick out the guard hairs toward the underside of the fly, the
guard hairs will form the legs. The under fur of the dubbing forms the
shuck halo effect and traps air bubbles. Dubbing can be picked out with
a bodkin, a Velcro stick, or a gun bore cleaning brush. The dubbing
loop method consistently gives a looser, buggier look to a body.
This is a moderately easy pattern using common
materials. So tie some up and give them a test flight. Let me know how
they work. This fly should work very well for the Mother’s Day Caddis
hatch in late April.
Tie One On,
Dan Kellogg (you can contact me at FLYGUY@EZNORTHWEST.COM)