E-C Caddis

Designed by Ralph Cutter on the slopes of the Eastern Sierras in 1981, the E/C Caddis is absolutely bursting with intelligent fly design ideas. The "E" in the name stands for 'emerging' and the "C" stands for 'cripple', due to the unique way that the fly sits in the surface film and the conspicuous trailing shuck tail. The elk hair wing paired with the parachute-style hackle allows the fly to ride lower in the water than most caddis imitations. The antron tail is supposed to give the impression of a trailing shuck and, once water logged, helps to sunk the rear of the fly and exaggerate the low-rider profile even more. Ralph believed that the two-tone body was important to illicit strikes from choosy fish as well. This pattern is particularly deadly at the end of caddis hatches or on summer evenings when spent caddis are falling from the river side willows but it's an excellent choice anytime the weather is warm and you feel like fishing a dry fly.