Any SBS on foam caddis?

[iveofione]

Last week on the NFCDA a foam caddis was a hot ticket because it just didn't sink. I have been trying to tie a few more but I consider myself a below average tier and using foam has made me look even worse. My elk hair is too vertical and I can't seem to get the overwing to lay down. What is the secret to these things- I have used up my profane vocabulary but have little to show for it.

 

[James St. Clair]

Ive, what pattern are you tying? There are a few foam caddis out there. That might help us help you get it figured out.

I like Kingrey's Better Foam Caddis, if you haven't checked that one out. Here is a video on it:

 

[Flymph]

Similar to video with a few alterations:
1. Quality hackle tied in by the tip at bend of hook (most of the time I use light ginger)
2. Tie in and wrap closed cell foam of color to match hatch
*Wrap foam all the way to eye*
3. Palmer hackle through thread segmentations
4. Tie in deer/elk hair on top of foam; this helps keep to keep hair with a flatter profile to body
5. ***Make one loop over the hair bundle before light wraps over the hook***
6. Gradually make loops tighter over the hair bundle

*Even the best, closed, cell, foam, will become soaked, at least for me this is true. For that reason I palmer a high quality hackle through the body for better/longer flotation.

 

[Stonedfish]

I like a tied down caddis body (dubbed body, palmered hackle with foam pulled over the back) with a elk hair caddis wing.
Think of it being like a foam back humpy mated with an elk hair caddis.
SF

 

[Gary Knowels]

If a guy was going to ID in August, what size and color would you suggest?

 

[Stonedfish]

Yellow is always a good August color, at least for me.
SF

 

[jaredoconnor]

I don't like razor foam body flies, unless there is a highly buoyant foam wing. When you wrap foam around the body only, it makes the flies land and float weirdly.

Balloon caddis is the best foam caddis pattern that I have seen. I don't cut the foam off, at the back, though; I cut it into a wing, instead. I also cut the foam into a sharp triangle, before tying it in, so the head is less bulbous.

 

[tkww]

foam has made me look even worse.

If you haven't, try to find some razor foam. It comes in a packet with .5mm and 1mm sheets. (You'll want a metal ruler, razor/xacto, and cutting pad--but really you'll want that for any foam!) The thinness of the resulting strips really helps to control the bulk and taper of the body.

My elk hair is too vertical and I can't seem to get the overwing to lay down. What is the secret to these things- I have used up my profane vocabulary but have little to show for it.

Do you have the same problem with non-foam EHC? If you foam body ends too far up (towards the eye) and too abruptly, the wing may be hitting it and getting propped up instead of laying down. Make sure you don't run the body too far up and use thread wraps over the foam to make sure it ends in a nice taper. Personally I would then dub the last bit up to the eye to create a nice little platform to set the wing.

 

[Matt B]

If a guy was going to ID in August, what size and color would you suggest?

August should be spruce moth time, so I’d have some big (12-14) tan ones for the daytime. And then there are always small (16-18) dark ones in the evening.
With a well tied wing, I haven’t had issues of the fly landing wrong, wrapping thin strips of foam around the shank for a caddis body.