How to Tie the CDC & Elk

Producer: Tim Flagler

Hans Weilenmann is a well known fly tier from The Netherlands, and one of the patterns he’s best known for is his adaptation of Al Troth’s legendary Elk-Hair Caddis. By (You can see Hans himself tie it here.) By replacing the original hackle body with CDC, Weilenmann created a fly that looks less rigid than the original, and the quick-drying CDC helps the fly stay afloat, even in broken water. One of the things that I love about the pattern is that you can strip it below the surface—say, at the end of a drift—and it works as a wet fly.

In this video, Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions demonstrates that they key to tying the CDC & Elk is controlling the materials. If you can keep the slippery CDC in place and stop the elk hair from flaring too much or rolling around the hook shank, the pattern becomes exceptionally easy to tie. Of course Flagler offers solutions to these problems, which means that you can produce a good-looking CDC & Elk in just a few minutes.

This is one of more than 550 fly patterns in the
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CDC & Elk
Hook: Standard dry-fly hook (e.g. Dai-Riki #305), size 16.
Thread: Brown, 8/0 or 70 denier.
Abdomen/Hackle: Single brown CDC feather.
Wing/Head: Elk or deer hair, cleaned and stacked.
Adhesive: Head cement.