Spring is near. The Winter doldrums worse than usual. Tying some flies might rekindle the anticipation.
Posts Tagged ‘cdc
Dusting off the vise…
Tags: cdc, Fishing, flies, flitting, fly pattern, hobby, macro, photo, SwittersB, tying
CDC bead head pattern…
Tags: bead head, cdc, Fishing, fly pattern, hobby, macro, materials, Outdoors, photo, recipe, SwittersB
This pattern is tied on a straight shanked hook, size 12 here. The trailing material is mylar tinsel for movement and flash in the upper strata. The body is a wound dubbing brush, but of course you could dub a similar body, in olive. The wing is a couple of stacked CDC feathers. This pattern has done very well on rivers and lakes as a diving/emerging caddis imitation. This would be an equally good pattern without the bead and fished below the surface or in the film.
The Oracle Wet Fly
Tags: cdc, Fishing, fly fishing, fly pattern, fly tying, hobby, macro, Outdoors, Photography, Recreation, The Oracle, Wet Fly
The Mirage: diaphanous CDC
Tags: Agostino Roncallo, cdc, fly fishing, fly tying, grayling, macro photoraphy, mayfly, SwittersB, The Mirage, tom sutcliffe, trout
“I noticed a…feather resting on the surface…going down with the current. A slight breeze was making it do small movements in the foam and the feather slid lightly on the water so as to make it look like a living thing.” Agostino Roncallo
I recently came upon a simple, enticing concept for a fly pattern at Tom Sutcliffe’s The Spirit of Fly Fishing called The Mirage by Agostino Roncallo. A single, delicate, buoyant CDC feather, the tying thread and the hook comprise the dry fly.
Delicate and may sustain some damage after a fish or two, but given the simplicity of the tie and the reputed effectiveness, who cares. Tie a row or two and dance along the surface. A delicate fly for selective and non-selective fish: trout/grayling
Agostino Roncallo first started tying this simple fly in the 90’s and later wrote about the magic properties of CDC: Cul de Canard
Photography: Macro Puzzles
Tags: cdc, emerger, flash, fly fishing, fly pattern, fly tying, Image, macro, Macro Photography, Photography, Puff, scale, set upC, SwittersB
I struggle for consistency with my macro photography. Sometimes it is there and other times it just isn’t. Today, I wanted to photograph a small (size 16) emerger pattern I simply call a ‘Puff’ given the wing material is called a CDC Puff Feather. I tried to present a contrast to the flies size by shooting it in front of a U.S. Quarter for a point of reference. The flash was dialed way down. Yet it still washed out. You still get an idea but not as crisply as I would have hoped. The beauty of the macro lens or magnifying goggles is one can readily see the faults of one’s tying (sloppy thread head/cut starling hackle for example).
In honor of and in response to…the early season mayflies and caddis: a simple wet/flymph (I don’t want to debate what a flymph is picky fly tiers!) here is a simple to tie fly pattern.
The fly can be fished in the film (surface) or sunk for a straight or swung retrieve.
The ‘recipe’ or pattern for this very simple fly is as follows:
Size 14 heavy wire hook
Size 8/0 thread, black
Tail: A half dozen strands of Zelon fibers to represent a trailing shuck
Abdomen: A simple thread body wound forward, back and forward over the Zelon fibers up to the thorax area
Thorax: A spun collar of tan CDC fibers (Duck Butt feathers that float well)
Wing: One plus turns of a Starling feather so the tips of the feather reach back to the abdomen area.
Fly Tying: Rusty CDC Caddis
Tags: caddis, cdc, fly fishing, fly tying, hackle, how to, macro, materials, oils, paste, Photography, Rusty Caddis, SwittersB, tie
Rusty CDC for the wings and legs give such suggestibility of life. The hackle added to the lower patterns gives a higher floatation in the surface film. Do not add floatant paste etc. to the CDC.