Lesson 6 
    ELK HAIR CADDIS 
 
Hook: Tiemco TMC 100 

Thread: Balck 6/o 

Hackle: Brown or ginger  palmered 

Body: Olive dubbihg 

Wing: Elk hair or coastal deer hair 
 

OPTIONS 
 
The color of this fly can be changed to match any caddis fly. You can also tie this fly using a rib to reinforce the hackle but be advised this adds weight.
 
GOALS 

1.  Learn to tie hair wings. 
2.  Practice dubbing of dry flies. 

 Are you addicted to popcorn? Well, trout are crazy about caddis flies like people are for popcorn. The fly you’re learning now, the Elk Hair Caddis, is trout popcorn!  Be sure and tie tons of these flies, they  work everywhere, most of the time.    
Caddis populate rocky riffled water of streams and flutter erratically on the surface and over it. The wings lay back over the body in a tent  shape.  Caddis hatch all year but the best hatches begin in Spring and last until Autumn. Have a good assortment of sizes and body colors like Hare’s ear, gray, olive and tan. Don’t ever go fishing without them, ever!    
Montana fly tier and guide Al Troth developed the Elk Caddis over 30 years ago and the fly gets more popular every year. The down-wing styled deer hair wing represents the shape of the adult fly and this particular fly is very durable, too.    
You’ll combine several techniques used repeatedly here: dubbing a body, "palmering" a  hackle over the body. The newest  technique is using deer hair, evening the hair in a stacker and then tying a down wing style over the body.  You already know most of the techniques.    
The Elk Caddis is a simple fly to fish. You can cast it upstream like the Cahill and dead drift it over rising trout, or you can cast it downstream and skate it over feeding trout. Hold the rod tip high and lightly move the rod tip to make the fly skitter ever so slightly over the surface at the end of it’s drift. Fish will charge this fly and smash it hard!



 
1. Debarb the hook and make a thread base. Tie in the hackle, by the base of the feather, at the bend of the hook. 
2. Dub forward to a point 1 ‡ hook eye diameters from the eye of the hook
3. Palmer hackle forward and tie off in front of dubbing. Trim the top of the hackle off to make room for the wing.
4. Cut a small bunch of hair off the hide and stack in a hair stacker until the tips are even. Measure  the length of the wing so that it extends almost to the bend of the hook.
5. Using the pinch method tie in the wing, on top of the hook shank, one eye diameter from the eye.
6. Trim the butt end at a 30 degree angle at the hook eye.
 
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