Tying The Elk Hair Caddis with Kelly Galloup

Watch Kelly tie up one of the most popular dry flies of all time: The Elk Hair Caddis. Al Troth came up with this pattern in 1957 and it has been wreaking havoc on trout ever since. Needless to say, the Elk Hair Caddis is a staple for us on the Madison and is one of those time-tested patterns that belongs in everyone’s caddis box. While the original fly was tied with bleached elk hair, we find that short fine deer hair helps this fly float even better
Elk Hair Caddis Recipe:
Hook: TMC 100 - www.slideinn.com/product/tmc-...
Body: Tan Super Fine Dubbing: www.slideinn.com/product/supe...
Hackle: Dark Barred Ginger or Brown dry fly hackle - www.slideinn.com/product/whit...
Rib: Small Gold UTC Ultra Wire - www.slideinn.com/product/ultr...
Wing: Short Fine Deer Hair - www.slideinn.com/product/natu...
Original Wing: Bleached Elk Hair - www.slideinn.com/product/natu...

[@TieItAndFlyIt]

“I never use elk hair for my elk hair caddis” lol love it

[@jeffstover9579]

You have a great way of explaining and SHOWING what you are doing. I'm slowly working my way through all of your videos. Thanks.

[@barneyewing2664]

That hackle gauge is great. Never comers off my vise. Skipping this fly is a lot of fun, really explosive strikes, even though they miss it pretty often.

[@jonnywareagle5189]

Fantastic video, with some really good explanation of techniques. And your fly-tying room is amazing 😍

[@brianhansen67]

GREAT video Kelly. Really appreciate the extra detail in terms of actually tying the fly as well as back story of the design and tips in fishing it. Just great stuff. The whole package. I've been abroad for 9 years and am soon to return home to Michigan. Your videos have given me a refresher course in tying/fishing and have me really pumped to get back on the river. A million thanks!

[@freddyblock994]

Thanks so much for all the "detail" you provided... Awesome!

[@anablakp3200]

Nice Tie & instructions. I Really like the bench/drawers behind you. Nice storage.

[@marks.5288]

The round head on the fly is the bomb! Thanks Kelly.

[@jasonmann3038]

Love fishing this fly It's very simple to tie and it works great And thanks for the tips

[@johnnylightning1491]

Nice simple fly Kelly. Keep the good stuff coming. One of these days my wife will really let me retire and start tying flies. Until then, keep the good stuff coming.

[@jimholland1592]

Kelly, I enjoy the stories behind things like this very enjoyable and I learned a lot. I have to get the hair stacker. Again thanks for all the effort that goes into what you do.👍

[@buckshot21000]

Gotta love the hula girl on the shelf in the background

[@BarryMcKee3906]

Thanks Kelly. Another quality tie made look easy. Love the banter as I always learn something about the subject fly and tying in general. Happy New Year!

[@davevisscher2441]

Kelly..I've always struggled with this fly....particularly the last part. Thanks for clearing it up! DaveInLivingston!

[@wahtawilliams5866]

Nice tie . I totally agree about the hackles. Got copy of Gary Borgers book designing trout flies for christmas in early 90s he describes an x style leg on a poly caddis works fine for me.

[@lathandeyoung8886]

Just got the little and big stackers from you. The little one is especially amazing. Would love to see some more on the water video's, but love the tying ones too.

[@gadzooks6811]

Tap the stacker on the corner of your foam tool caddy. Great for tying late night or early morning when others are sleeping.

[@704EX]

Good stuff again Kelly!!! Great techniques that I now use.

[@nagarner]

Kelly, that was longgggg, but VERY good. Thanks!

[@bryanparrish7288]

Fine work ! Thank you.

[@termite122]

good video..i always found it lil strange that everyone builds a taper in the body just like a mayfly pattern but caddis have clearly a reverse taper..fatter at the rear and thinner towards the head and the wing but guess its not that important as millions of fish have been caught on them with a mayfly type taper..i always found mono to be a better rib..i can really tighten it down more than wire and i just never liked the idea of adding any extra weight to a dry fly tha iwre would give but again,,millions of trout have been caught regardless...size 16 and 18 which we have alot of here in the east i never added a hackle and for years i also have notice taht no matter what color caddis were on the water the best producer was always peacock herl body and bleached wing...ok im now ordering a few of those small stackers and hopefully there in stock..

[@Buzzman1]

thanks for sharing

[@timtollett8513]

Just as a heads-up, Al used light colored "cow" elk hair for his original Elk Hair Caddis. Bleached elk hair wasn't around back then and for all fly tyers, Bleached Elk Hair is not a good hair to use as the fibers break. Al used to buy elk hair from me and was always looking for hair that was from a late October or early November killed animal. This is the best hair to use as it offers the best floating qualities without "late" season fiber breaking issues. Nice video Kelly.

[@TheSlideinn]

Thanks Tim, and thanks for the information. I love back stories from those who were there. Kelly

[@simonjohansson7284]

Thanks man

[@ripig111]

Relatively new tier here so this might be a naive question but it is one I've been wondering about. With patterns that use palmered hackle, do you ever trim the hackle from the underside of the fly so that it floats lower? It seems like the EHC would tend to sit so high that the body would be above the surface, at least until it had absorbed some water. And a somewhat related question, how important is the wing versus the hackle for buoyancy? It seems that if the hackle is doing its job the wing should stay out of the water (again, until it was thoroughly soaked). As an aside, I recently placed an order with your shop and I want to acknowledge your staff for the very quick turn-around. When I am tying a new pattern and my local shop doesn't have the materials I need I tend to want them NOW, so I was very pleased with how quickly my order arrived.

[@TheSlideinn]

Rip, great question. I always carry scissors to trim flies on the water, when I lived in Mi it was the only way I could get the fish to eat the EHC on certain caddis, I still carry them. When in doubt make it ride lower is kinda my theory. As for buoyancy, the wing is more important on many of these type flies as many don't have any hackle and the fly rides partly on the tail body and the wing, but all the parts kinda work together on most flies. On the EHC the wing is often barely touching the water until soaked like you said. there is another old pattern called the Bivisable which is all hackle and when dressed it floats endlessly? Thanks for watching . KG

[@alc609]

Very informative video

[@meganabeyta1384]

I use these in leadville and the fish love them it's all we use for up there

[@chuckhickey]

maybe a tad harder, but I do like doing the head this way and also that little pinch of dubbing in front seems to stand everything up quite well. new student here - and this is my favorite fly -- and now I can tie it - at least to a 14 maybe a 16.. FAT FINGERS

[@iflysw1]

I found the hackle helps it to float much better than just the elk hair

[@gradyprairie9523]

Is the T&A Bunker a possibility? if so can you please film a video of it. Great video love them all.

[@flyrodhiker8326]

I always learn a ton from your videos, however I’m wondering about what I’m learning on this one? You buy a hair stacker company and name it Swinger, and you have a fly named Sex Dungeon? I just got to wonder lol. I’m only kidding, you’re awesome and I really love all the details you give.

[@brianlane9534]

"...you counter wrap your wire..." You mentioned earlier that by wrapping the wire in the same direction - what you did - helps to 'tighten' the wire when the thread wraps around it to secure it - you demonstrated this with your fist. So.. I'm confused. Did you counter-wrap or not?

[@TheSlideinn]

Brian, because I wrap the hackle from the front to back and then trap the hackle tip at the back with the wire. I am counter wrapping over the hackle but never have to wrap backwards with the wire. I do not like to wrap wire backwards as the thread pushes it away from me when tightening the thread around the wire. Thanks, Kelly

[@shanehertzog5812]

Hi Kelly iam from Australia ,you are a excellent fly tyer,Kelly it’s good how get value for money on hackles.Kelly where can I buy that hair stacker,very smart hair stacker.

[@woodrowmcwilliams2547]

Hey Kelly I have a non-related question--can you give details about that sweet mug you have? You guys sell those?

[@TheSlideinn]

Hey Woodrow, That is my mug... Kelly stole it from me hahahah! But it is a David Whitlock Brown Trout Mug. I can always order you one in if you would like one. -Jeremy

[@leonardwells9613]

Classic pattern for the ages, great tie, could you send me a link for those sweet hair stackers please, thanks. L 👍🎣👍

[@TheSlideinn]

Glad you enjoyed it Leonard, listed below is a link for the stackers! www.slideinn.com/product/swinger-stacker/

[@imaxfli]

Many people use elkhair..it lays flatter and more realistic of waters not as choppy as the Madison....

[@cosmiccharlie8606]

Ok so where do I get that hear staker

[@TheSlideinn]

Charles, you can find them here. www.slideinn.com/product/swinger-stacker/

[@fudd126]

Howdy Kelly, 54 year old newbie..my question is I only have natures spirit spinning deer hair can I use it to tie Caddis wing..I know it’s not the best but is it legal thanks

[@kellygalloup6073]

sure itis, as lomg as you can get it tied in its fine. Thanks for watching. KG

[@Rick-yd5pf]

Thanks Kelly - appreciate the clear instruction and tips. Do you ever display tying techniques using the rotary feature of your vise?

[@alc609]

Hello, new to the site.

[@TheSlideinn]

welcome

[@alc609]

@@TheSlideinn the elk hair is a popular fly in East Tennessee, loved the video and learned from it.

[@ZGADOW]

I could never understand why stimulators and elk hair caddis have wire ribs. Yeah it protects the hackle but putting extra metal on a dry fly never makes sense to me. I use thread wrapped through the hackle instead of wire

[@boydgravesvlogs2562]

try the brown caddis

[@Belbivdevoe]

CDC corn fed caddis eats this fly for lunch

[@TheSlideinn]

Agreed, as does the missing link, butch, x caddis and quite a few others. Just a staple and a fun one to tie

[@anablakp3200]

Display the finished fly without your hands in front of it please.

[@graemerose2195]

Spends too much time back and forth on the one part of the process.

[@MrHw100hunter]

Its a nice fly Sir , but you talking to much , come to the point faster please!