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Trout love trichopterans
Sedge imitations are regularly used in fly-fishing, as Trichoptera can be found in large numbers in French rivers, as well as abroad. These insects live in both preserved and degraded environments, and can be found just about anywhere.
The order Trichoptera comprises numerous families with insects of different sizes and colors, although the most common are beige to brown. They hatch all year round, in both fast-flowing and slower rivers. Trout love them, as they take a long time to emerge and pass through the film of water, and fly very poorly, so often fall back to the surface.
The Elk Hair Caddis mounted in sizes 10 to 20 can therefore represent the sedges found on our waterways and have the advantage of being a real all-rounder!
Assembly sheet
Kamasan B400 hook size 10 to 20.
UTC 70 black mounting silk.
Attach your black mounting line and wrap it around the body until it reaches the bend.
Block a strand of flash crystal or flashabou pearl and hold it in place, then attach a red hackle, having selected a feather length appropriate to the size of the hook. The hackle hairs should extend a few millimetres beyond the hook opening. Making a dubbing body. Shown here in Hareline "dubbing plus" in olive. Shape the body to within 3 mm of the eye. Hoop the body with the flash crystal strand, then wrap the hackle in a spaced-apart pattern, but providing good buoyancy.
Take a tuft of elk (or deer) so that the hairs protrude slightly from the back of the hook and fix it in place, keeping the deer on top, then pass your mounting line back under the (front) part of the excess to raise it. Trim the excess to form a small head. Finally, tie the final knot.
Tips and tricks
The Elk Hair Caddis is a wonderful fly with many uses.
Dry its buoyancy makes it ideal for fishing fast-moving currents. But it also works on flats. It can be used to trigger posted fish, especially when edging, but also on gobies when falling back.
In a tumble dryer it will allow you to support different nymph weights and also to bring up fish, so you can have it both ways. By changing the color of the dubbing that forms the body (but also the hackle if you want grey or black) and the size of the hook (from 20 to 10), it can imitate different species of whipworm.
An excellent fly to have in your boxes, and one that catches fish all year round.
