Post by brentkelley on Jul 22, 2007 21:31:58 GMT -5
Hook- Daiichi 1110 #16 – 20
Thread- Olive 8/0
Antenna- Trimmed down CDC feather stems
Body/Wing- Olive CDC wrapped as hackle using Magic Tool, trimmed to a taper
Thorax- Golden Olive Superfine dubbing
Tying notes:
The key to making this fly is trimming the closely palmered CDC fibers into a taper from front to back. I also trim the bottom of the fly much more closely than the top and sides to make sure the fly sits flat in the meniscus with the hook point underneath.
To create the bulk of the body it helps to have a Petitjean Magic Tool. I place the CDC fibers in a dubbing loop and wrap them from bend toward the eye stroking the CDC fibers back with each turn. You need heavy and dense CDC feathers for this pattern to work well, and generally I still double the feathers up in the Magic Tool to make the body heavy enough.
This pattern was a result of a picture I saw in Leon Links’ book on tying with CDC. There were no tying instructions for the fly I was trying to imitate, so this represents my best guess.
This pattern is extremely effective in slow water conditions where trout are cruising for active caddis. All those loose fronds of CDC fiber continually rearrange themselves as the fly sits on the water and probably represent independent movement to the trout. On heavily fished waters I am convinced that it is this independent movement that triggers fish to take a fly.
When fishing this fly I suggest using slightly heavy tippet sizes as it has a habit of twisting the tippet at times.