Fly Tying a Bucktail Caddis

Created by Umpqua Feather Merchants, this Elk Hair Caddis variant is one of the larger caddis fly imitations, tied with a black tail and typically in brighter colors (yellow or orange).

Hook: #6-12 dry fly
Thread: Yellow, or to match the body
Tail: Moose body hair
Body: Yellow wool yarn (or to match any caddis)
Hackle: Brown dry fly, palmered
Wing: Deer hair

This pattern can be found in:
Randle Scott Stetzer’s “Flies, the Best One Thousand,” 1992, amzn.to/34Q15mp

*** Some of the other popular books used here: ***
Dave Hughes, “Essential Trout Flies,” 2017, amzn.to/3lbCZYX
David Klausmeyer’s “Favorite Flies,” 2020, amzn.to/3oeSNMa
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: amzn.to/34U0rUe
Mike Valla’s “Tying the Founding Flies,” 2015, amzn.to/354oSir

Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible. The channel is named after one of my western Maryland homewaters, the Savage River. I’ve been uploading at least three new videos a week (usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).

Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know in the comments if you have any tying tips you would like to share or if you have any patterns you would like to see tied here.