Morning Mist Elk Hair Caddis
by @dekasso
Elk Hair Caddis · Dry fly
Tan wings over a quiet, misty river
A classic Elk Hair Caddis dry fly in tan and brown, size 14, for trout and grayling during caddis activity.
A tan Elk Hair Caddis dry fly sits in the vise against a soft, misty river. Its shaggy hare's ear body carries a bright gold wire rib under a flared elk hair wing and brown palmered hackle.
- Pattern
- Elk Hair Caddis
- Imitates
- Adult caddis activity, typically late spring through summer, strongest in the evening
- Hook
- size 14
- Tippet
- 5Xrule of three
- Tan elk hair wing floats high
- Gold wire rib protects the hackle
- Buggy hare's ear dubbed body
- Clipped elk butt head
- Size 14 dry-fly hook
On the water
Tan elk hair fans back over a buggy hare's ear body. Gold wire bands the dubbing, and brown hackle fibres hang below like legs. The clipped butts make a neat, blunt head in front of the eye.
Drop it on the seam of a riffle or tuck it into pocket water as the evening light fades. Let it drift dead first, then give it a small twitch to mimic a caddis skittering on the surface.
Gold wire is the quiet worker here. Wind it forward through the palmered hackle in open turns, wiggling as you go, so it locks the hackle stem down without trapping fibres.
Rigging
- Tippet
- 5Xhook size divided by three
- Leader
- Nine feet, tapered — longer and finer in flat water
- Tie it to 5X tippet with a clinch knot and dress the wing lightly with floatant.
- Cast across and slightly upstream, mend for a clean drift, then add a twitch near the end.
- On choppy water, let it skate on a tight line as the drift swings below you.
Where and when
- Water
- White River, Ozarks, North Arkansas
- Hatch
- Adult caddis activity, typically late spring through summer, strongest in the evening
- Target
- Trout, Grayling
- Water type
- Riffles, runs and pocket water
- Also fishes
- Also works as a searching dry on broken freestone water, or as the high-floating top fly in a dry-dropper rig.
Also on this water
- MidgeJan–Feb, Nov–Dec
- SowbugJan–Apr, Oct–Dec
- CaddisApr–May
Fished out of Cotter, Mountain Home and Bull Shoals.
Make it yourself
Intermediate5 materials · 10 steps
- Pattern
- Elk Hair Caddis
- Style
- Dry fly
- Hook
- Tiemco 100 dry flysize 14
- Thread
- Tan 8/0
Materials in the order they go on the hook
- RibFine gold wire
- BodyTan hare's ear dubbing
- HackleBrown dry-fly hackle, palmered
- WingTan elk hair
- HeadTrimmed elk hair butts
Details
- Imitates
- Adult caddisfly
- Colors
- Tan, Brown, Gold
How to tie it
The steps, from first wrap to whip finish (10)
- Mount the hook in the vise and start the tan thread behind the eye, wrapping back to the bend.
- Tie in the fine gold wire at the bend and leave it hanging.
- Dub a slim, tapered body of tan hare's ear forward to about three-quarters of the shank.
- Tie in a brown dry-fly hackle by the butt at the front of the body, shiny side forward.
- Palmer the hackle back to the bend in four or five open turns and hold it with the wire.
- Wind the gold wire forward through the hackle in open turns, wiggling to avoid trapping fibres, and tie it off at the front.
- Clean and stack a small bunch of tan elk hair so the tips are even.
- Measure the wing so the tips reach just past the bend, then tie it in with two loose wraps followed by firm ones.
- Lift the butts and trim them square to leave a short, blunt head over the eye.
- Whip finish under the butts behind the head and add a touch of head cement to the thread.
Proportions (4)
- Body runs from the bend to about three-quarters of the shank.
- Wing tips extend to just past the bend of the hook.
- Hackle fibres measure about one and a half times the hook gap.
- Trimmed head is about one-third of the wing's tie-in length.
Tips (4)
- Stack the elk hair well; even tips give a clean, tented wing.
- Keep the dubbing thin so the gold wire bands show clearly.
- Use loose wraps first when tying in the wing, then tighten to flare the butts gently.
- Pick out a few dubbing fibres for a buggier body.
Common mistakes (4)
- Too much elk hair makes the fly topple; use a sparse bunch about the thickness of a matchstick.
- Wing tied too far back leaves no room for the head; stop the body short of the eye.
- Wire wound in the same direction as the hackle traps fibres; wrap it the opposite way.
- Head trimmed too long blocks the eye; cut butts level with the eye.
Every kit size
Materials only
Size 14 · Materials only · 12 flies
$46.10
$3.84 a fly
Includes Tiemco 100 dry fly · and 8 more
Every item in this kit · 9 items
Hooks & beads
- Tiemco 100 dry fly$6.50
Thread & wire
- Tan 8/0 thread$2.95
- Fine gold wire$3.25
Materials
- Tan hare's ear dubbing$4.50
- Brown dry-fly hackle, palmered$11.95
- Tan elk hair$5.50
- Trimmed elk hair butts$5.50
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
Size 14 · Materials only · 48 flies
$76.05
$1.58 a fly
Bought separately $80.05 · you save $4
Includes Tiemco 100 dry fly · and 8 more
Every item in this kit · 9 items
Hooks & beads
- Tiemco 100 dry fly$13
Thread & wire
- Tan 8/0 thread$2.95
- Fine gold wire$3.25
Materials
- Tan hare's ear dubbing$9
- Brown dry-fly hackle, palmered$23.90
- Tan elk hair$11
- Trimmed elk hair butts$11
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
Size 14 · Materials only · 144 flies
$170.06
$1.18 a fly
Bought separately $193.25 · you save $23.19
Includes Tiemco 100 dry fly · and 8 more
Every item in this kit · 9 items
Hooks & beads
- Tiemco 100 dry fly$35
Thread & wire
- Tan 8/0 thread$8.85
- Fine gold wire$9.75
Materials
- Tan hare's ear dubbing$18
- Brown dry-fly hackle, palmered$71.70
- Tan elk hair$22
- Trimmed elk hair butts$22
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
With vise & tools
Size 14 · With vise & tools · 12 flies
$196.10
$16.34 a fly
Includes Tiemco 100 dry fly · and 17 more
Every item in this kit · 18 items
Hooks & beads
- Tiemco 100 dry fly$6.50
Thread & wire
- Tan 8/0 thread$2.95
- Fine gold wire$3.25
Materials
- Tan hare's ear dubbing$4.50
- Brown dry-fly hackle, palmered$11.95
- Tan elk hair$5.50
- Trimmed elk hair butts$5.50
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Tools
- Rotary pedestal vise$79
- Ceramic bobbin$14
- Fine-point scissors$16
- Whip finisher$9
- Hackle pliers$7
- Bodkin$5
- Bobbin threader$4
- Dubbing wax$4
- Canvas tool roll$12
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
Size 14 · With vise & tools · 48 flies
$218.55
$4.55 a fly
Bought separately $230.05 · you save $11.50
Includes Tiemco 100 dry fly · and 17 more
Every item in this kit · 18 items
Hooks & beads
- Tiemco 100 dry fly$13
Thread & wire
- Tan 8/0 thread$2.95
- Fine gold wire$3.25
Materials
- Tan hare's ear dubbing$9
- Brown dry-fly hackle, palmered$23.90
- Tan elk hair$11
- Trimmed elk hair butts$11
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Tools
- Rotary pedestal vise$79
- Ceramic bobbin$14
- Fine-point scissors$16
- Whip finisher$9
- Hackle pliers$7
- Bodkin$5
- Bobbin threader$4
- Dubbing wax$4
- Canvas tool roll$12
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
Size 14 · With vise & tools · 144 flies
$302.06
$2.10 a fly
Bought separately $343.25 · you save $41.19
Includes Tiemco 100 dry fly · and 17 more
Every item in this kit · 18 items
Hooks & beads
- Tiemco 100 dry fly$35
Thread & wire
- Tan 8/0 thread$8.85
- Fine gold wire$9.75
Materials
- Tan hare's ear dubbing$18
- Brown dry-fly hackle, palmered$71.70
- Tan elk hair$22
- Trimmed elk hair butts$22
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Tools
- Rotary pedestal vise$79
- Ceramic bobbin$14
- Fine-point scissors$16
- Whip finisher$9
- Hackle pliers$7
- Bodkin$5
- Bobbin threader$4
- Dubbing wax$4
- Canvas tool roll$12
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
The creator
Remixes
1 remix of this
Where this came from
fly pattern · made
1 remix
25 — from 1 remix, at the Derby's published weights, since . Views are not counted.
- elk hair caddis
- caddis
- dry fly
- tan
- trout
- grayling
- elk hair
- hare's ear
- gold wire
- palmered hackle
- size 14
- riffles