dry
Front End Loader Caddis
A hackle-stacker elk hair caddis with a Callibaetis Super Fine body, Glo Brite tag, and grizzly hackle wrapped on a Sexi Floss post. Rides low in the film but holds up a heavy bead.
Originated by Devin Olsen
Recipe
- HookDohiku 301 or 611 — size 12 · Dohiku
- ThreadVeevus 16/0 — Dark Tan (rear); Semperfli 12/0 Beige (front) · Semperfli
- TagGlo Brite #5, #7, #1, or #12
- RibPearl Sulky Tinsel
- RibSemperfli Nano Silk 12/0 — Brown (counter)
- AbdomenCallibaetis Super Fine or Purple Ice Dub
- WingNatural elk hair
- HackleGrizzly dry-fly hackle
History
Devin Olsen tied his first Front End Loader Caddis in 2013 during practice for the World Fly Fishing Championships in Norway. The brown trout in the rivers they were fishing weren't dense, so he was covering vast flats with dry-dropper rigs. He needed a dry fly that would hold up a tungsten bead but also sit in the film to convince the browns to eat on flat water. He took the hackle-stacker style from one of his favorite mayfly dries and merged it with an elk-hair caddis. The pairing worked perfectly on Norwegian brown trout and is now his favorite dry-dropper dry.
Fishing tips
The Sexi Floss hackle post keeps the hackle off the film — fish hangs low without sinking. Glo Brite tag is the trigger.