X Caddis Flies

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly are some X Caddis flies.

I decided to re-post the X Caddis to introduce my Riverkeeper Flies YouTube channel I started a short time ago.

I’ve been tying and fishing X Caddis flies for many years, probably tying my first one after purchasing Fly Patterns of Yellowstone – volume two (2008) by Craig Mathews and John Juracek of Blue Ribbon Flies. The original Fly Patterns of Yellowstone (1987) by Craig Mathews and John Juracek did not include the fly pattern. Their Fishing Yellowstone Hatches (1992) does list the fly for the first time.

Their story about the X Caddis in the Fly Patterns of Yellowstone – volume two, credits Craig’s wife Jackie as the one who had the original idea for the X Caddis. She thought the fish might like the shuck hanging off the back of a caddis much like that from their popular Sparkle Dun fly pattern. They were targeting large, selective fish on the Henry’s Fork river in Idaho who would “drive by” an Elk Hair Caddis and not eat the fly.

Blue Ribbon Flies is one of my favorite fly shops in West Yellowstone, MT. It’s where I spend time standing at the deer and elk bins hand selecting the hair I use to tie my flies.

Here is a link to my RiverKeeper Flies YouTube channel where I tie the fly as well as a discussion of a few tips and tricks to successfully tie this fly.

Enjoy…go fish, stay safe!