Tying a R-F Caddis

Producer: Richard Strolis

Rich Strolis: “This R-F Caddis was the result of my frustration with CDC feathers, elk hair and the like. CDC feathers, although an excellent material for wings on dry flies, requires too much drying out and redressing with floatant after catching a fish. The lack of durability with the material resulted in a dry fly that wouldn’t last an entire outing while guiding. Elk hair, while a viable alternative, can also snap and fray after repeated fish.

Bring in the Snowshoe, a material that I am very fond of based upon its ability to float like a cork, shed water on a back cast, and require minimal if any redressing after a fish swallows it. Lastly, it’s ultra-durable. I have several of these flies in one of my boxes and on fly patches that are seasons old.

I have always been a big fan of the X-Caddis and the shuck hanging off the back. (Heck, all of my dries typically have a shuck, so I added that step to the dressing.) I combine that with hares-ear style dub with some added flash in minimal amounts, and some micro-rubber legs (optional) to give it movement. This fly has really worked out well and all of my caddis are now tied this way.”

Materials

Hook: TMC 100 SP-BL or Any Barbless Dry Fly Hook
Size: 8-18
Thread: UTC 140
Shuck: Ice Fur
Body: Hareline Krystal Dub
Wing: Snowshoe Rabbit
Legs: Senyo Shaggy Dub (optional, but I like them)

Rich Strolis started fishing at an early age in western Massachusetts. By the age of 11 he was introduced to fly fishing and fly tying and never looked back. Rich has been guiding for nine seasons now as well as professionally tying and selling some of his unique fly patterns, which have appeared in several fly fishing publications. To see more of Rich’s work visit his Web site at www.catching-shadows.com.