E/C Caddis

Olive Brown E/C Caddis

Show

Tying Instructions

1. Attach the thread to the shank and wrap a foundation to the bend of the hook.

2. Clip a sparse amount of Z-lon and measure it against the shank for a 2/3 length. Clip some if the fibers short so that the shuck has some unevenness. Secure the tag end to the top of the shank and return the thread back to the bend of the hook.

3. Dub a fairly thick abdomen to about midshank.

4. Apply the thorax dubbing by first intermixing the strands with the abdomen strands for a transition.

5. Wrap the contrasting dubbing forward to about one eyelength behind the eye.

6. Attach a hackle by the butt to the shank just behind the eye. After attaching the hackle, cover the hackle tie-in with some additional dubbing.

7. Clip some Elk Hair from the hide and clean out the underfur. Even the tips in a hair stacker and measure the hair tips so that the wing does not exceed the length of the hook. Attach the hair about one eyelength behind the eye with 3-4 tight wraps.

8. Wrap the hackle around the deer hair base with 2-3 wraps. Take care not to trap any of the hackle fibers, you want them to splay out in a horizontal manner. Bring the last wrap over the front of the shank behind the eye and secure with 3-4 thread wraps. I like to bring the bobbin up close to the eye when doing this. The bobbin will push the hackle fibers away without the thread trapping them.

9. Clip of the tag end of the hackle and apply a few half hitches. Cement the hitches.

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 9300 #14-18
Thread	Uni-thread Olive 8/0
Body	Light Olive Brown Haretron
Thorax	Caddis Green Haretron
Shuck	Ginger Z-Lon
Wing	Natural Brown Elk Hair
Hackle	Dun Hackle

Ralph Cutter

E/C Caddis

This is probably the most popular fly designed by Sierran fly fisher, Ralph Cutter, and introduced to the public in 1981. The E/C Caddis is an emergent/cripple caddis pattern developed for the large caddis hatches that frequent the Truckee River. At first, he tried to utilize a palmered body similar to the Elk Hair Caddis but noticed that the silhouette underwater was not similar to the naturals since the fly rode too high on the surface film. Then, Ralph switched to a parachute wrap and utilized the Elk Hair wing as the wing post. As a result, the fly rode deeper within the surface film and looked much closer to the naturals.

Two toned body

Another important feature to this fly is the two-toned body which provides contrast and attraction. Ralph believes that the darker abdomen coloration creates an appearance of the shuck still encapsulating the lower part of the caddis body. The shuck consists of Z-lon material which absorbs water and allows the rear portion of the fly to sink within the surface film. The wing can be either Deer Hair or Elk Hair. Elk Hair will flare less than Deer hair and this can give the fly a better caddis profile. However, Deer Hair will have a better floatation and might be a better choice for faster moving waters. The most common colorations are Olive Brown/Caddis Green, Tan/Olive and Black.

Since the E/C Caddis resides low in the surface film, it is often used on slow-moving waters. Often, Ralph will apply floatant to the leader as well as the wing, thorax, and hackle to help with floatation on swifter waters. However, since the fly is difficult to see, an indicator is often useful.  Above all, the E/C Caddis has built a reputation as an excellent caddis pattern throughout the world and remains one of the best for the Sierra.

Variations

Colin (Sandy) Pittendrigh designed a pattern he called the Flat Caddis Deer Hair around the early 80’s that places the hackle beneath the wing similar to the E/C Caddis. Colin created a “bodyless” variation that allows the wing to lay horizontally. According to Colin, “Most tiers end up with a near-vertical wing, after winding the hackle.  If you lash the wing on loosely, and then build up a bit of a thread post, below the wing, by winding thread horizontally–before winding the horizontal parachute–then you don’t force the wing to stand up almost straight.” Colin applies a micro-drop of Super Glue to the base of the wing to hold the loose wraps together after the hackle is wound.

Hot Creek Caddis

One variation to the E/C Caddis is the Hot Creek Caddis designed by the late Eric Otzinger while he worked at Bob Marriott’s Fly Shop in the mid-90’s. Eric’s pattern is tied with a gray dubbing to represent the small gray sedge that frequents Hot Creek. His pattern is tied to smaller hook sizes of #16-22 and he leaves off any trailing shuck. This makes the pattern a true dry fly, which is required to fish the Hot Creek Ranch private waters. The pattern has also been successful on other slow-moving waters such as the Lower Owens.

Missing Link Caddis

Another variation is Mike Mercer’s Missing Link Caddis. Mike introduced this pattern in the March 2010 of Fly Fisherman magazine. He experienced a situation where the fish selectively fed only on the dying or dead caddis adults after they released eggs. The rises were slow and regular. To represent a gaunt body, Mike tied a thread abdomen with a sparse flashabou rib and coated it with Softex. The spent wings were represented by z-lon with a small dubbed ball of ice dubbing to keep the z-lon strands from collapsing. The upright wing came from the E/C Caddis pattern and assists in seeing the fly as well as providing some additional floatation.

Tan E/C Caddis

Hook	TMC 9300 #14-16
Thread	Uni-thread Olive 8/0
Body	Olive Tan Haretron
Thorax	Olive Tan Haretron
Shuck	Cream Z-lon
Wing	Natural Brown Elk Hair
Hackle	Grizzly Hackle

Black E/C Caddis

Hook	TMC 9300 #14-16
Thread	Uni-thread Black 8/0
Body	Black Haretron
Thorax	Black Haretron
Shuck	Ginger Z-lon
Wing	Black Dyed Deer Hair
Hackle	Black Hackle

Golden E/C Caddis

Hook	TMC 9300 #14-16
Thread	Uni-thread Tan 8/0
Body	Golden Stone Haretron
Thorax	Olive Haretron
Shuck	Cream Z-lon
Wing	Bleached Elk Hair
Hackle	Ginger Hackle

Flat Caddis

Hook	TMC101 #14-16
Thread	Danville Gray 6/0
Body	Baetis Olive Dyed Quill
Thorax	Black Superfine
Tail	White Spade Hackles
Wing	Coastal Deer Hair
Hackle	Grizzly Hackle

Hot Creek Caddis

Hook	TMC 100 #16-22
Thread	Uni Thread 8/0 Gray
Body	Gray Superfine
Thorax	Gray Superfine
Tail	Med. Dun Spade Hackles
Wingpost	Coastal Deer Hair
Hackle	Grizzly Hackle

Missing Link Caddis

Hook	TMC 9300 #14-16
Thread	Uni-thread Camel 8/0
Body	Uni-thread Camel 8/0,coated with Loon Soft Head Clear
Downwing	Dun Zlon
Rib	Pearl Flashabou
Thorax	Peacock Ice Dub
Wing	Natural Elk Hair
Hackle	Blue Dun Saddle Hackle