For a while now I?ve been experimenting with different fly patterns, as my voluminous box(es) will testify to. Last night, on the Don after fucking about spending almost as much time fixing saturated CDC with kitchen roll and dry-shake as actually fishing I got pissed off, tied on a good old low maintenance DHS and took a fish first cast. Not a big fish, but it just drove home the value of simplicity and robustness in fly design. This fly will catch fish anywhere and is the most versatile and user friendly fly I know. It floats like a cork, is easy to see on the water and fish are suckers for it.
I?m not saying there is no need for other flies, but as a go-to this one is hard to better. If I could use only one dry fly it would be the DHS in various sizes and colours. Not as well known, perhaps, as Bob?s DHE, but much more of an all rounder in my opinion.
It's a cracker right enough. I use it and also a a variant of that which has a palmered CDC body hackle (it's got a name but I can't think what it is at the moment - I think it was a Hans Weillenman pattern) but is otherwise almost identical.
Malcolm
I should also have said it's one of the easiest flies to tie. Two materials, no faffing about.
Quote from: Malcolm on July 29, 2008, 09:27:58 PM
It's a cracker right enough. I use it and also a a variant of that which has a palmered CDC body hackle (it's got a name but I can't think what it is at the moment - I think it was a Hans Weillenman pattern) but is otherwise almost identical.
Malcolm
Its the CDC & Elk by Hans Weilenmann - a very good fly indeed!
http://www.danica.com/flytier/hweilenmann/cdcelk.htm
Hans took the Deer Hair Sedge a wee stage further & my simply adding a body hackle of CDC created an even better fly. The (CDC & ELK) Sometimes a wee simple tweak or change transforms a good fly into a better fly. Not always but on this occasion it does. Beauty as I see it,is that it is not a fly for one off hatches but a good general searching pattern that covers a variety of insect forms.
I like it most as a evening Sedge pattern for the way it sits in the film rather than on it. The shape & silhouette of the Sedge coupled with the CDC to give that wee bit exta life to it. All in all a useful fly & one of the modern classics. On an aside whilst Mr Wyatt tinkles about with patterns I do not think he was the creator of the Deer Hair Sedge. This type of tying has been around for many years particularly in the States where it most certainly hails from.
One thing I have always been meaning to ask Hans is why The Elk, when the wing is deer, that answer has always alluded me. :)
Tight Lines
I have never tried a CDC and elk. I must tie some up, as so many people swear by them.
Highlander, I think the elk/deer thing was discussed before. I'll try to find the thread. Meanwhile I found this...
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_elk_and_deer
I don't think Bob Wyatt ever claimed the DHE or the DHS to be his inventions. It was probably just his publicising them through his writing that led some people to associate them with Bob and reach the conclusion that they were "his" patterns.
I had a look and found this old thread which should confuse the issue further, but the banter :D is good.. http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3514.0
Alex
QuoteI don't think Bob Wyatt ever claimed the DHE or the DHS to be his inventions
Never said he did, but many do. Just wanted to keep the record straight.
QuoteHighlander, I think the elk/deer thing was discussed before. I'll try to find the thread. Meanwhile I found this
:lol: :lol: :lol: Oh I know the difference but question was Why does Hans call it CDC & Elk when he uses fine tipped deer hair for the wing?
You really should tie up a few, they can be quite good especially on rivers.
Tight Lines
On an aside haresear said in an old thread
Quotef you hit a red deer in a ford focus, you would win. If you hit an elk
This is what happens if you hit an ELK
(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f233/Algie123/Moose.jpg)
Quote from: Highlander on August 07, 2008, 09:30:43 PM
This is what happens if you hit an ELK
(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f233/Algie123/Moose.jpg)
Or even a moose in this case!
Moose (Elk in Europe) Still no dae yer caur any good if you hit it.
:)
Tight Lines
Hey they grow their moosies big in America, my cat brought a scottish moose in today, by F**K it wisnae near thon things size.........Thank god!!
Dark claret deer hair sedge is the loch fly as far as I am concerned. Ultimately versatile you can fish it static or pulled and the question for me is not whether to have it on the bob but which one - add a silver tinsel rib for variation.
Tim
I would guess I've probably caught more trout on a dark-claret DH sedge, size 10, than on any other pattern. That's based on it's devastating powers on the lochs of the far north.
However, on lowland waters it's no more than a bit-part player. Even in smaller sizes, with hare's ear or other bodies, I've not found it to be anything special.
Is it just that those highland broonies like a big moothful?