# Elk Hair Caddis Questions...



## tommytubular (Jan 25, 2002)

After looking over the "lets see your fly box" thread......I notice alot of elk hair caddis in a couple of them. I looked in my dry fly box and.....0 elk hair caddis.....leads me to believe I'm missing the boat with these flies.

So here are my questions....

1. What are some of your favorite colors to have on hand?

2. Should I have some different sizes? What would those sizes be?

3. Should the body be dubbed with super fine, opposum/rabbit or a synthetic type dubbing?

4. I have some light and dark elk hair but I have several colors of deer hair. Is elk hair a must or could the wing be tied using deer hair?

Thanks in advance for any help you are willing to provide....

Tommy


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## rangerman (Apr 17, 2002)

The largest Brown I ever caught on a dry fly (18" Muskegeon River) came on a size 14 gray Elk Hair Caddis, so I am a bit partial to this pattern.

1. I find myself tossing mostly gray and light tan EHC's but I carry them in olive, dark brown, black, cream and light yellow. These bugs come off in a variety of colors depending on the season and local conditions.

2. IMO sizes 12 thru 20 will have you covered for 98% of what you will encounter in Michigan.

3. I don't think it matters that much as long as it doesn't hurt the flies buoyancy.

4. I believe A K Best actually recommends tying the EHC's with deer hair because he feels they are more durable.


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

I'll agree with the post above but narrow down the size a little more to 14 and 16 being mostly what I tie. Even when the caddis are hatching most of them are different sizes and I don't think size is a huge issue with caddis that it is with other bugs. I'll add that I often put a soft hackle in similar size and color under my caddis and get just as many if not more fish on the emerging caddis.


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## tommytubular (Jan 25, 2002)

Thank you very much gentleman...

Rangerman.....good to see you around....I looked in your photos hoping to find a pic of one of your elks hairs....not there.....so i googled it....wow, about a million hits.....and they all look different!:lol: You wouldn't have a pic of one of yours you'd like to share would ya? I'm still trying to duplicate your march Brown I got in a swap.....but I have a lot to learn before those will be anything close

Gunrod.....Im a newbie and I didnt really understand what you said about the soft hackle under body/emerging caddis.....is it still fished dry?

Thanks again!


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## Brown duck (Dec 16, 2005)

tommytubular said:


> Gunrod.....Im a newbie and I didnt really understand what you said about the soft hackle under body/emerging caddis.....is it still fished dry?
> 
> Thanks again!


I can field this one in Gunrod's stead:

The soft hackle is actually fished as a dropper off the dry fly. Unweighted, the soft hackle essentially utilizes the soft hackle fibers (hense the name) of the grouse/partridge to soak up water and sink (wet). Up to 1.5' - 2' behind the dry (almost acting as an indicator or attractor pattern) should not be enough to sink the well-hackled and otherwise buoyant EHC (dry - especially if floatant is applied). A popular rendition of the dryfly - wetfly/nymph dropper system.

As for body types, I use whatever I happen to have on hand (superfine if I have the color I want). The little dubbing you use (whether it be a water-repeller or soaker) should be floated by the hackle and deer/elk hair (if tied correctly). And since died elk hair isn't as easy to come across (neither is _good_ elk hair), I will sometimes use deer hair.


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## tommytubular (Jan 25, 2002)

Brown duck said:


> I can field this one in Gunrod's stead:
> 
> The soft hackle is actually fished as a dropper off the dry fly. Unweighted, the soft hackle essentially utilizes the soft hackle fibers (hense the name) of the grouse/partridge to soak up water and sink (wet).


Thanks brown duck.....

After reading what you said.....I re-read gunrods post......it was actually pretty clear.....I just didn't catch it when i read it the first time.

Thanks again sir!


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## Wellston (Dec 28, 2000)

I use this pattern as reference. Can't say I ever tried Anglers Choice Llama dubbing though.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/intermediate/part24.html

Jim


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## axisgear (Jan 24, 2007)

I have a certain affinity for caddis flies in all of their life stages;The many patterns I like to use reflect this. As far as hook size goes,Gunrod summed it up for the EHCs that I like.The soft hackle does make a good dropper,but you can use other patterns(like a caddis nymph imitator).Deer hair is an option for the wing,though it is slightly less bouyant and it is darker.I haven't tied any with deer belly hair yet,maybe this could be an option?

Colors: Use your imagination here.Caddis flies come in all different shapes,sizes and colors.On one stream that I fish often,I noticed three different hatches happening at the same time(tan with cream colored wings,olive with brown wings,light brown with brown wings with hints of gray in each).I most frequently tie EHCs with muskrat dubbing,grizzly hackle and lighter colored elk hair wing.It is a fairly easy pattern to tie and looks very natural.

Once you have EHCs mastered you can tie up some caddis larvae imitators.Then you will have to find out if the fish are eating sticks or stones that day:lol:!

Good luck with your tying and have fun.


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

May I suggest doing like Dennis Potter. Instead of dubbing for the body use small or medium pearl mylar tinsel for the body. The fish just hammer them!

Steelie


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## mparks (Sep 4, 2001)

I really like the Elk Hair Caddis. Real easy to tie. Deer hair works ok but it's a little too thick and too short. Besides, a 2" patch of elk hair will tie a lot of files. I doubt the trout would no the difference however!:lol:

Works real well in a hopper dropper situation. Also, I've read that they don't have to be fished on a dead drift because of the way a caddis natural skitters across the water. Seems like I see a random caddis every time I'm on the river so I use them when I want to fish dries but don't see anything in particular hatching.

Last year, on a cold opening day, a size 16 caddis with a 16 pt nymph caught my only fish. The only rise of the day and he took the caddis on the first drift. I call that a gift from the fish gods.


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## tommytubular (Jan 25, 2002)

Wellston....thank you for the link....love that site!

Axis.....thank you for your toughts also....I will pursue tying some caddis larva also.....just so I can have equal parts of sticks and stones:lol: 

Steelie.....Good Day... thank you for that tip......I put pearl mylar on my wish list



So......I got home and tied one up......my first ever elk hair caddis...








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I certainly need to hone in my skills with these not to mention Ive been tying bigger flies latey so, that size 14 dry fly hook seemed awfully small.....or my fingers were really huge....

Thanks again for everyones help.....

EDIT

mparks....thanks for your thoughts also....funny you would mention "skitter"....I read that today too. I sure mine skitter and not make the fish scatter...


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

I dont tie but I sure catch alot of fish on the ehc. A couple of years ago it accounted for several june and july steelhead. siize 14 and 16 in either tan or gray.


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

Yep, that's what I meant. 

There are other soft hackles out there too. Chickaboo and starling are too of my favorites. I love soft hackles and believe the fish do too. Many times the fish will be afraid to break the surface for a fly but are willing to stop just short.

At times I will make beaded head soft hackles too. Usually with a EHC with a fair amount of deer hair it will not pull the dry under. It also makes the dry act as an indicator so you don't miss many fish where you can get short strikes on dries at times.


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## joefsu (Jan 9, 2005)

I know people love the ehc, but I have just never had much luck with them. I've done most of my fishing on the the rivers around my home town of Iron River, but I've only caught a few small fish on the ehc. No idea why. 

Joe


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## axisgear (Jan 24, 2007)

Nice tie Tommy! It does take a little getting used to the smaller dry hooks....especially after tying BIG streamers.

Hey joefsu,some night in june/july go to the Grand upstream of GR at dusk.You will see a caddis hatch that rivals the hex on the Au sable,just don't open your mouth!
As far as not catching anything on EHCs on your home streams,take a look at the streams bottom composition.If there aren't many rocks,the caddis' will be sparse. Also see if there are any caddis larvae in your streams;they look like funny tube shaped bundles of sticks or sand pebbles clinging to the rocks.Take note of their size and adjust accordingly.If you happen to find any adults take note of their color and size as well,try to offer them something similar.

I hope this will help you be a bit more successful in your endeavors.

Good luck and have fun!


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

OK guys, a caddis question. I spend a bit of time fishing a back creek arm on Halloway, there is a spring creek with a good rocky bottom that feeds into a bay with a VERY silty/ muddy bottom except for the parts in the old creek channel, which is kept clear by the creek when they do the annual resivour draw down. In the summer there are some type of caddis, that are all over the place in the bay area, floating around just under the surface in their cases, which are usually made of sticks and leaves, not stuck on the bottom. I believe the cases are mostly made from Autumn Olive, because they have a decided reddish/ orangish tinge to them. These things are really big as far as I know cadisses, with the cases averaging 1 - 1.5". I am amazed any survive as the fish just go nuts after them. Any clue as to what they are?


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## axisgear (Jan 24, 2007)

Hey ESOX,do you have some pics? You have piqued my interest.


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## Bob T (Feb 6, 2000)

Real good tie, Tommy. The elk hair caddis is one of my favorite flies to tie and to fish with. It is really quite a simple tie once you get the hang of it and you can tie them in many colors. Since my buddy and I are getting on the older side of things and the eyesight is not as good as we like it to be we tend to use bleached elk hair instead of the natural colors as it is very easy to see on the creeks and we have noticed no difference in fishability with it. I would say that this fly is probably the first one that I tie on when there is no hatch visible.

Bob


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

Esox, check with Knockoff. He's done some reading on the caddis and pretty up on them. I believe there are like 2000 species of caddis out there.


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## TODDFATHER (Jun 5, 2002)

I gotta agree with all of Gunrod's comments about Caddis, specifically great sizes to have in your box i.e. 14-16. There is one caddis variation that I tie that doesn't seem to be popular with anyone other than myself but either way, I"ll post it later. It's tied somewhat like Axisgear's avatar. By the way, yes there are literally thousands of different caddis species. Some make their tubes which are found to be material specific to the species. Some use pine needles, others use sand, leaves, sticks, or combinations of those materials and more. The tubes start out rather small and the caddis adds to the tube as (his/her?) growth requires. If Esox is finding large caddis tubes, the afore mentioned Caddis variation might well be of interest to him. It's actually big enough to plunk down and fish like a hopper!





















Toddfather


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