In Bob Wyatts book , himself and Hans Willienman seem to have a bit of banter about who's fly is best. What do you think i'm a cdc and elk man myself, a great catcher of fish, covers a variety of fly life and only takes 2 minutes to tie what do you favour?
Col
CDC and elk it's a fly I have caught a lot of fish on, unlike the DHE. If I want a sunk abdomen fly I use a klink.
Quote from: col on October 27, 2009, 08:16:37 PM
In Bob Wyatts book , himself and Hans Willienman seem to have a bit of banter about who's fly is best. What do you think i'm a cdc and elk man myself, a great catcher of fish, covers a variety of fly life and only takes 2 minutes to tie what do you favour?
Col
I would have a look at the book, but I would have to prise it back out of Harelug's mitts :roll:
I've done fine with both flies, but I've largely done away with the elk/deer wing in either fly and often use McFlylon yarn instead.
To answer the question..I suppose the DHE has given me more fish.
Alex
It's a while since I read the book, but I seem to remember something about a shoot-out between the flies that the DHE won.
That means little though, how you could do an objective, comparative test escapes me. Having confidence in your fly will help you catch more fish on it, how can you quantify that?
I like the CDC and Elk but like all CDC dry flies it's a high maintenance job, especially after the first fish; best to have several to swap about. A bottle of dry shake does no harm either.
I would opt for the DHE on rivers everytime but have started to use calf tail instead of deer hair for durability. On lochs the elk wins for me. My preference is usually based on not having to deal with CDC at the start of the season when its cold wet and after a fish can be difficult to float. So lazyness wins everytime. My only critisism of DHE is sometimes if not tied properly or an offest hook is used the fly acts as a wee helicopter where as CDC and elk does not.
paul
yip and dry shake and that preen oil but sometimes after a few casts and maybe one fish the fly needs changed. Not saying I don't like CDC just that I prefer a more robust wing early in the season.
I do find the CDC +Elk needs a lot of attention, but maybe it's just me. It's worth it though and I think it covers a wider imitation range than the DHE, if you allow the CDC to become wet you have a kind of an emerger, you can even sink it and fish it as a wet. I'm sure these legs are a trigger, just like a hopper, a tarantula etc.
Replace the Deer with Snowshoe rabbit & you get the finesse of CDC with the wearability of Deer
Col
thats an AHBDHE, ( Any Hair But Deer Hair Emerger), completely different fly.
paul
Never had much success with it on either Smurf- the odd fish - but found the klink works well everywhere. As Wyatt himself said you'll fish better with flies you have confidence in.
Both flies have caught me a lot of fish. However I think of the CDC and elk as a unique type of fly but the DHE as one of a group of sunk abdomen flies which look identical except for the winging material. I've used CDC, snow shoe and crinkly synthetic winging material in addition to deer hair with good effect. The deer hair variant happens to have a name.
I think in terms of profile and size then colour when it comes to dry flies and don't mind too much what materials I use to get that effect.
Quote from: col on October 28, 2009, 10:17:39 PM
So the general concensus is that the dhe is a good fly as long as you dont use the deer hair and replace it with another material. :crap :lol:
Col
Snowshoe is better (IMHO) for 14-18 flies, the 10's & 12's can stand the deer hair
This is the first season that I've used the CDC&Elk and it was the most successful dry fly for me on lochs.
As well as fishing it as a dry fly proper it also worked well on the top dropper when pulling wet flies; its buoyant enough to pop up to the surface even after its been retrieved underwater.
I agree its a bit high maintenance (I could only manage 2 or 3 fish before needing to change it) but after half hour or so drying out on a fly patch it was usually fine.
Not done so well with the DHE, particularly on lochs, and I find it more difficult to tie compared to CDC/Elk. When I try rivers and burns I prefer CDC emerger/F Fly or Klinks.
I note the comments re CDC getting fish slimed. Probably not news to all the experienced guys by John Tyzack showed me a way of cleaning them up pretty quick after that- do a bit of a cast (away from where you are fishing) and strip the fly through the water fast (so maybe cast downstream and strip back up) a couple of times- seems to work ok.
I spent last night with awful eyes having tried to do some DHEs at the vice so am definitely in favour of the ABDHE :)
Have yet to try the CDC and Elks.
Martin
Amadan, if you can get some McFlylon, it works very well as a deer hair substitute - and it doesn't break.
Your tip about stripping the fly through the current to remove slime is exactly what I do. A good tip that I never thought of mentioning. These wee points are what make a big difference to your fishing.
Alex
Hi folks,
Anyone got a SBS or photo of the CDC/Elk - sounds like a good flee.
Per Col's note above I water tested some of my DHE's that I have tied.......whoops :(
Here you go Stu, it's jist a posh Deer Hair Sedge ;-)
http://www.magiclink.com/web/wesn/cdcelk.htm
Harpo,
Here's a link to another SBS
http://www.danica.com/flytier/steps/cdcelk/cdcelk.htm
I'll get some McFlylon then.... thanks for the tip.