Got A Suggestion - Customizing A Simple Nymph

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Interesting thoughts to think about.  Thanks.   I'll let you know.

 

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11 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

I don't know but I've been told......CDC needs to be used NATURAL. 

Once it has been bleached or dyed it looses most of the properties that it is famous for.    

Interesting.  For nymphs... I thought the secret sauce was all the fine feathers threads (sorry don't know the technical term) where fine enough and meshed in a way they trapped air bubbles.  However, I see where oils would make that work better.  

[tjm]

I see random caddis on RR frequently and often catch trout there on caddis imitations at the surface. But as i said in another post, I have never seen an impressive "hatch" of any insect on the streams I've fished. Sure the tiny BWO seem to hatch all afternoon some days, but I think they do it three minutes of emerging and thirty minutes in between another three minute emergence. I think Ozark streams have relative low fertility.

 I've read that some caddis swim to the bottom to lay eggs; @Gavin seemed to include EHC (with CDC)  with soft hackle wets, and mentioned LaFontain's work, LaFontaine did a Diving Caddis and the Green Butt soft hackle is a diving caddis pattern.   so it occurred to me that maybe Weilenmann intended his CDC & Elk  that way.

Thinking about caddis, three or four times on RR I've seen a large white moth emerge mid stream, wings as big as a nickle. 15-50  in a few minutes and a year or three between sightings, I never figured this bug out, any ideas?

[tjm]

On the CDC oil and not, I watched an hour long show last night, (most video I've watched in years but they are funny) Tom Rosenbauer vs Tim Flagler in a tying demo of a Last Chance Cripple using biots and CDC and answering questions as they tied, both these guys insisted that oil was not the reason for using CDC but that  the fine mini-barbules that cling to/sit on the surface tension and trap tiny air bubbles are the  reason. They said that almost all commercially available CDC has the oil washed out. Reckon they know?

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, tjm said:

On the CDC oil and not, I watched an hour long show last night, (most video I've watched in years but they are funny) Tom Rosenbauer vs Tim Flagler in a tying demo of a Last Chance Cripple using biots and CDC and answering questions as they tied, both these guys insisted that oil was not the reason for using CDC but that  the fine mini-barbules that cling to/sit on the surface tension and trap tiny air bubbles are the  reason. They said that almost all commercially available CDC has the oil washed out. Reckon they know?

My understanding is that the absence of the natural oils prevents the CDC from drying out on a simple false cast.   

So using a product like Frogs Fanny after the fly has been dunked is necessary.       I never use CDC as a dry fly material though.....so to me it doesn't matter.

[Gavin]

CDC traps air bubbles, but I would not call it floatation. Air bubbles shine, and that is to your advantage sometimes. You can see some big egg laying flights of caddis on the Current at dusk, mid April. They aren’t hatching but they are dropping eggs and some drown. You might get into some trico’s around 10-12am Sept-October, but this IS the deal this time of year🦗 🪲 , 🐜 .

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On 10/13/2022 at 10:05 AM, tjm said:

On the CDC oil and not, I watched an hour long show last night, (most video I've watched in years but they are funny) Tom Rosenbauer vs Tim Flagler in a tying demo of a Last Chance Cripple using biots and CDC and answering questions as they tied, both these guys insisted that oil was not the reason for using CDC but that  the fine mini-barbules that cling to/sit on the surface tension and trap tiny air bubbles are the  reason. They said that almost all commercially available CDC has the oil washed out. Reckon they know?

I listened to them on the Orvis pod cast and said the same thing.

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So I found a hack that worked well for me.  You will use a small (office supply) binder clip and CDC puffs.  Gently gather the CDC puff tips and clip them in the binder clip.  Then cut off the stem.  Put the CDC in a hackle loop, spin, and wrap.  It makes a really nice wet fly collar for smaller nymph patterns.  I haven't tried them yet, but they look really good.  Let ya know.