X-Caddis
Craig Mathews' X-Caddis adds a trailing Antron shuck that mimics the pupal case the adult is shedding as it emerges. This simple addition turns it into a killer pattern when fish are rising selectively to crippled caddis stuck in the surface film. Fish it without movement on flat water, allowing the current to do the work. The trailing shuck is often the single trigger that makes fish commit.
- Type
- dry fly (Caddis)
- Hook sizes
- #14–18
- Target species
- trout
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best seasons
- spring, summer, fall
Materials
- hook: Dry fly hook #14–18
- thread: Tan 8/0
- tail: Gold or amber Antron yarn, short (trailing shuck)
- body: Dubbed Antron or Superfine in tan, olive, or gray
- wing: Elk hair or deer hair, flat over body
Tying steps
- Mount hook and tie in a short sparse bunch of amber Antron yarn as a trailing shuck at the bend.
- Dub a smooth, slim body of tan or olive Superfine to the 3/4 mark.
- Stack a bunch of elk or deer hair; measure to align tips at the hook bend.
- Tie in the hair at the 3/4 mark as a flat tent wing over the body.
- Trim the hair butts at an angle to create a tapered blunt head.
- Wrap tightly over the trimmed butts; whip finish and cement.
- Apply a thin coat of head cement to the thread wraps at the hook eye and let cure completely.
- Check the trailing shuck hangs at or just below the surface film when the fly is held over water.
- Dress the elk hair wing lightly with amadou or a desiccant powder — never apply liquid floatant to caddis elk hair.