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Ben Byng’s CDC Caddis
Ben Byng is a master fly tyer who ties at many
of the fly fishing shows we attend in winter and early spring. At the Cal
Expo International Sportsman’s Exposition show, where I am responsible for
recruiting good tyers and running the “How-to Center” for fly tying, I
watched Ben tie a beautiful, buggy looking CDC Caddis pattern. Ben says it
also serves as a mayfly emerger. I believe that, if tied in the proper color
combinations, it could serve as a Callibaetis emerger on still waters or
perhaps as a PMD emerger on streams such as Fall River—and I intend to find
out!
The pattern looked so buggy to me that I
decided to ask Ben if I could feature it in this column. He graciously
agreed, and provided tying instructions and a list of materials.
Ben calls this type of fly
a “60/40 fly,” meaning that the body/wing makes up 60% of the fly, and the
hackle makes up the remaining 40%. The materials list specifies tan for the
body and thread; however, if you tie some of these bugs, also try olive
thread and body. |
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Materials
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Hook:
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Standard dry fly hook such as Daiichi 1180, #14-20
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Thread:
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Tan
8/0 or size 7/0 waxed nylon
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Body:
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Haretron (or similar
dubbing), olive or tan
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Wing:
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Light tan CDC—two feathers
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Overwing: |
Dark
speckled partridge feathers from the back of the bird by the tail |
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Hackle:
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Light ginger saddle or cape,
dry fly quality
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Tying instructions
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Smash barb on hook. Dub a thin, football-shaped
body on the rear 60% of the hook—don’t go any farther forward than that.
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Cup two CDC feathers together and place them on
the top of the hook at the forward end of the body. Tie them in at that
point, measuring their length to the back of the bend of the hook. The wing
should be tent-shaped when completed. Do not trim the butts of the CDC
feathers yet, as they will be used to form a head similar to that of an Elk
Hair Caddis.
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Wrap the thread forward to just behind the eye,
to lay a foundation for the hackle, and work the thread back to the tie-in
point of the wing. There should be no more than these two layers of thread
to avoid adding too much weight to the fly.
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Pull or cut 6-8 barbs from a well marked dark
speckled partridge feather and tie them in on top of the CDC wing, spreading
them out in the process across the top of the wing. Again, don’t trim the
butts just yet.
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Tie in a hackle at the same point, and wrap it
forward to fill the space between the wing and the eye of the hook. Whip
finish behind the butts of the CDC and partridge.
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Trim the butts short so that a stub sticks up,
imitating a caddis head.
Ben says that this fly has been good to him on
California waters, so give it a try! |
