Fly Tied By: Bruce
Salzburg
Recipe By: Bruce Salzburg
Story By:
Bruce Salzburg
Home: Cheyenne, WY
E-mail: bruce@wyolaw.com |
Bruce is an attorney living in Cheyenne,
Wyoming. His home waters are the North Platte and its
tributaries, but he frequently fishes other Wyoming trout
waters, with occasional excursions into neighboring Montana and
Idaho. Once a year, usually during the spring, he heads
for the saltwater flats. |
Hans Weilenmann's CDC & Elk has
been my top producing dry fly for the past three years.
I fish it as a searching pattern, a caddis imitation,
and even as a mayfly emerger (with a shortened wing).
Recently it produced another good day on a local river,
but when I went to the bench to replenish my stock, I
was out of the right dry fly hooks. Necessity being the
mother of invention, I started to tie the pattern on a
light wire scud hook. Rather than winging the fly in the
normal fashion, however, I reversed the wing, Quigley
Cripple style.
 Tying the fly in this fashion
does two things. First, when wet, the body rides
completely under the film, where the movement of the CDC
is maximized. Second, it allows a larger clump of deer
hair to be used without over-dressing the fly,
increasing its already good flotation qualities.
The modified pattern has been very successful in recent
outings. While I have not fished the original and
modified patterns in tandem yet, takes on the "Cripple"
Variant are very aggressive.
For
you other fans of Hans' pattern, you might give this
variation a try.
Bruce Salzburg
P.S.
I've no intent to abandon Hans' original--it's a
winner. It will take much more fishing to reach any conclusions
about the modification.
If you haven't fished a short winged
version sunk, though, give it a rip. With a light wing, even small
patterns are quite visible a foot or two beneath the surface. I dead
drift it under bankside vegetation with the occasional twitch.
--Bruce Salzburg
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Crippled CDC & Elk
as designed and tied by Bruce Salzbury |
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Photo by Peter Frailey
Order of Ingredients:
Hook: Sizes
16-18, TMC 2487
Thread: Brown or gray, 6/0.
Body: One "Type 1" CDC feather, tip tied at the
rear of the shank, twisted and palmered forward.
See Hans' instructions for his CDC & Elk.,
including links to step-by-step instructions and
a video clip.
Wing:
Deer hair, tied-in reversed, Quigley Cripple style. |
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