Calf Tail Caddis Emerger |
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TYER
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Tim Johnson |
| HOOK | |
#14 nymph, down eye |
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THREAD | |
Black 8/0 |
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BODY | |
Light brown chenille |
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HACKLE | |
#18 grizzly |
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WING | |
White calf tail |
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HEAD | |
Fine black dubbing |
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COMMENTS | |
1. Secure thread and wind to hook point.
2. Tie in hackle, while wrapping thread to barb point.
3. Tie in chenille and wind thread toward eye, stopping about 3/8" before eye.
4. Tightly wind chenille to thread and tie off.
5. Palmer the hackle forward, making about 5-6 wraps by the time you get to the thread and tie off.
6. Wrap a good layer of thread to the eye and back to about 3/16" from eye. Calf tail is very slippery and
the layer of thread will help hold it in place.
7. Cut a clump of calf tail and comb out all of the frizz. I use my fingers for this.
8. Leaving the calf tail much longer than the hook, tie it in so that the tips of the calf tail are no
longer than the bend of the hook. This will leave a lot of excess sticking out over the eye. Holding the
material tight to the hook in your material hand, make four wraps of thread to hold the calf tail on the
top of the hook, getting tighter with each turn. A half-hitch at this point is a very good idea. Trim the
excess calf tail off at the same angle as the eye and make sure the eye is exposed. Place a small drop of
thinned head cement on top of the thread winds securing the calf tail.
9. Wind the thread through the cement to the eye and back while covering the white of the calf tail.
10. Place a very small amount of dubbing on the thread - about an inch of dubbing that makes the thread
appear just a bit thicker is all you need.
11. Wrap the dubbing into a head and whip finish.
A word to the wise - I've found that cheap hackle causes more problems in fly tying than any other factor.
For these flies I used #18 Whiting 100 packs. They may seem expensive when you first purchase a pack
(around $10 a pack) but you can tie 100 flies with one pack. The quality hackle has very strong quills,
which acts as ribbing to keep your flies from falling apart during use.
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