Help and critique of this CDC Olive emerger

[FrequentTyer]

I've been trying to master Davie McPhail's version of the CDC olive emerger. I have not done a lot with biot bodies or CDC, and I'm having 2 problems (that I know of ) I'm hoping some of you will be able to offer some suggestions. First, the head always looks too big to me. Since I need to tie down both ends of the CDC up front it just seems to add too much bulk to the head. I have used as little thread as possible but it still does not look right to me. Second, I can't seem to get rid of the thread tag at the butt of the fly. No matter how I tie in the biot, it either crushes down the tail or leaves a visible tag. Please take a look at the picture and let me know if you have any suggestions or see any other areas for improvement.
Mike.

 

[Fishidiot]

Mike,
Looks awfully good to me.
In the tutorial (good link by the way) there is a dub collar placed at the base of the head giving it a fairly thick profile. If you're concerned with head size you might try a finer thread (?). Really, though, with a fly this small a bit of bulk at the head is tough to avoid and certainly a minor flaw. I'm not a big CDC guy - and usually counsel new tiers to keep their flies sparse - but your CDC wing case might be a bit sparse to suspend the fly, esp with a biot body (?). The tag at the base of the biot body is fine, I wouldn't worry about it. If they aggravate you, you can always blend them in by using a thread color that matches the biot or just coloring them with a sharpie pen.
Nice job IMO.

 

[bam]

Use an 8/0 thread if you're not already.

I think the thread tag at the tail is unavoidable if you're splitting the tail with it. You may want to try tying the biot in on the side then making the first wrap go under the hook, not over it. Can't help you with the CDC, but it looks a bit sparse. Regardless, that fly looks good and will fish well.

 

[littlelehigh]

I suspect he is using turkey biot and you are using goose which is slimmer.


Try your first wrap underneath the tail then your second wrap should cover that tag.

I wouldn't worry to much about it! Great job keep up the good work.

 

[ryguyfi]

For the thread tag at the end of the body, are you tying in your biot point first with the rest hanging over the tail? If you are doing the opposite, then that gives you the thread base at the tail. You should have it pointing backwards and wrap over the thread base and up towards the eye. Look at the video again to see what I mean. I had that same issue when I started tying, like on wooly buggers.

Also check the "type" of cdc that you're using. There was a post a while back about the different types of cdc and that might help with the bulk of cdc... lastly is leave yourself some extra room for finishing the fly. You can see he basically finishes it twice. He ties off the cdc, then puts a bit of dubbing and then puts his whip finish in. That should help with the head looking too big. Check on troutnut.com and see the naturals too to see how big of a head they have and see if it is a good size anyways.

That's all I got! lol

Ryan

 

[FrequentTyer]

Thanks for all the great advice! I used 1 CDC feather and skipped the dubbing collar because 2 feathers and the dubbing just looked too big on this size 18 (yes, it is 8/0 uni). I'll look into the different types of CDC (this was Cabella's generic CDC). On the biot, I am using turkey but after watching the video about 50 more times and reading the posts here I changed how I was tying it in. I was tying it in point first, but would pull up after the first thread wrap to bring it perpendicular to the hook (I saw that somewhere...). Leaving it parallel to the hook and then folding it over as I bring it around, and making the first wrap underneath as suggested has pretty much eliminated this problem. I'll work on the CDC/head issue and post another picture once I'm happy.
Thanks again,
Mike.

 

[littlelehigh]

Glad to hear this is working out for you. I prefer 14/0 it basically has the same break strength as 8/0 but is smaller in diameter.

 

[FrequentTyer]

I thought you might want to see how this has evolved. I am really happy with the biots now, and I switched to CDC puffs which have a lot more volume in a smaller package. The denser CDC bubble is a bit harder to capture in a a photo, but it really floats well. Using these also cut down on the head a bit and allowed me to dub the front. I just hope the fish appreciate the effort :-D
Thanks again all for the help.
Mike.

 

[jayL]

I was doing well on the same fly, but with an antron shuck. It'll whack them if the fish you're after are anything like the ones I caught.