Welcome to Copper Fly - Begginners guide to tying


The Peacock Caddis Dry Fly

The Elk Hair Caddis I have started to use this fly where I have been using the griffith's gnat. The results have been great. This is another great caddis imitation, and works well for rainbows. The fly is very simple to tie, and the peacock herl can be replaced with peacock dubbing for a similar look to the fly.

Ingredients for this fly:
  • Dry Fly Hook Size 12 - 20
  • 2-4 strands of peacock herl
  • Elk Hair
  • 6/0 or 8/0 Uni-thread (match color of elk hair)
Tie on the thread.

Tie on your thread at mid shank, and wrap to the bend of the hook. Trim off excess thread.

Dubbing The fly

Tie in 2-3 strands of peacock herl at the tips. I have used 3 strands for a size 16 hook in this tutorial. The herl should start at the eye of the hook, and be wrapped backward to keep the body even.

Tie in a hackle

Next take the peacock herl and wrap it around your tying thread to give the herl some added strength. Wrap the herl from the bend of the hook to the eye. Tie off the herl at the eye of the hook, and trim the excess peacock herl.

Wrap the hackle

Take a small amount of elk or deer hair, clean out the small hairs and under fur, and place it in a hair stacker to even the tips (You could skip the stacker if the tips are relatively even for a more natural look to the fly). Tie the hair onto the fly so that the tips are about even with the bend of the hook.

Stack and wrap

Take 2-3 wraps of thread between the eye of the hook and the hair to lift it away from the eye. This will make it much easier to put line through. trim of the hair to give the fly a flat head. Add a whip finish and cement the head.