“Former” commercial fly tiers have all types of foibles, scars, and nervous tics - it comes from being hunched over the vice staring at dust motes, dim lighting, and tiny hooks.

I have a “love-hate” relationship with the noble Elk Hair Caddis; it’s a great fly, buoyant as hell, sturdy of construction, elegant, simple, and effective. It has earned its rightful place as one of my favorite dry flies - and continues to earn my wrath as a fly tyer.

Genetic hackles are the culprit, you get some elegant, long, size 16 hackle - with enough density and barbules to really make a well dressed fly - and you palmer it up the Elk Hair’s shank burning up 2/3′rds of all those great chicken genes - you’re left with not enough hackle to tie a second fly, and too much to throw away.

Cue nervous tic.

Even though we’re retired - we still hate waste. It’s the reason we have 2000 extra size 22 hooks and only two dozen 16’s, or why our neck drawer has 84 immaculate ginger capes - and all the brown and grizzly is picked over - with even the moths chanting in protest.

Every season I suffer bouts of “post traumatic customer syndrome” - the sweaty night terrors resulting from tiny flies ordered in massive quantities, with me already behind schedule. 

Chuck Stranahan solved my Elk Hair dilemma with an introduction to the Caddis Variant. It’s as simple, as effective, and uses less hackle - something us former tying whores can really appreciate.

Use the fingernail to press the wing flat against the hook, in doing so it’ll flair the wing horizontally into a fan covering nearly 90 degrees. 3 turns of oversized hackle completes the pattern. A standard genetic neck hackle can tie two of them, making them easy on the budget as well.

Change the colors to suit whichever critter dominates your local water. It’s an elegant sparse dressing that floats like a cork due to the large surface area, for me it’s a wonderful change of pace from tying the Elk Hair Caddis.

Chuck Stranahan is featured prominently in my “night terrors” as he was the proprietor of Hat Creek Anglers back in the day. Every conversation started with “I need 100 dozen #16’s …” then we’d talk about the small sizes…

Technorati Tags: Chuck Stranahan, Hat Creek Anglers, commercial fly tying, Elk Hair Caddis, Caddis Variant

I figured I was safe, neatly tucked away on the bottom left margin of the Daytripper’s Blog was the “Tying for 2008″ entry. Like all great procrastinators I assumed he wouldn’t dare increment it until February, minimum.

Now he’s ahead of us and we’re playing “catch up.”

Brownlining is hell on flies, nymphs mostly, and my nymph stash has been getting augmented regularly. It’s part and parcel of the smallmouth fishing on the Little Stinking - I tie a dozen and leave six on tree limbs trying for that tight cast against the underbrush. Naturally the one cast that gets in close is traveling at 150 mph and blows hell out of whatever I thought lived there..

The concussion alone teaches them fish a lesson.

Prodded by Alex, I cracked open the dry fly box to see what’s missing and found a lot of work for this winter. I should be able to stay abreast of Daytripper, as all of my small dries, rough water caddis, and cripples have been sorely used.

I was introduced to Bob Quigley’s “cripples” years ago when he lived near Fall River, one of those rare fly tiers whose creations are both graceful and practical, flies that fool fish rather than fishermen.

The theory is simple, tie the rear half of the fly in the colors of the nymph, and the front half in the colors of the adult. Grease the front portion only, and the fly will lay “arse down” at an angle simulating an emerger.

I use them interchangeably with the adult dry fly, they work well as the mature imitation in hatch conditions, and in many cases, work better. Any traditional mayfly dry can be adapted to the “cripple” style, just by adding the appropriate nymph coloration.

I had heard that the idea came when he was eyeballing a semi-destroyed Humpy, that may be myth, it was the prevailing story of the time.

Emerger patterns can be frustrating to fish, many rely on the bug being partially sunken, while effective as an imitation it’s difficult to see. Cripple wings are cocked forward at a 45 degree angle intentionally, as the rear portion sinks down into the surface film, the wing rises to the vertical position allowing the angler to retain the traditional dry fly profile, enhancing the flies visibility.

This’ll give you something to keep pace with the Daytripper, he’s got seven done - where’s yours?

Technorati Tags: Quigley cripple, dry fly, fly fishing, emerger, daytripper is a harsh taskmaster