Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
You sneak up on a spring creek and quietly peek through the bushes. Jackpot! Emerging mayflies, rising trout, and a drop-dead gorgeous pool. Such moments are what fly fishing dreams are made of. But beware of Creeks bearing gifts. You, the trout, and the mayflies are in grave danger. The mayflies are at risk of being eaten by trout. The trout are at risk of being hooked by you. And you are at risk of being without an effective imitation. Those rising trout are likely feeding on emergers, which is the most difficult of all insect stages to imitate well.
Emergence of aquatic insects is an untidy struggle during which winged adults shed their nymphal/pupal skins, pierce through the water’s surface, expand and dry their wings, and eventually fly away to streamside bushes. Surface tension at the air-water interface acts like a rubbery flexible membrane that requires considerable force to penetrate. The process is quite dynamic, and emergers struggle mightily to traverse the surface film. The form and profile of emergers changes greatly during that struggle, and trout often key in on an elusive combination of size, profile, color, and movement. Have a fly that matches the key du jour, and your dreams will come true. Lack such a fly, and you will have nightmares.
Many of today’s most popular and successful emerger imitations have one thing in common … the butt of a duck. “Cul de canard” (CDC) feathers surround a duck’s preen gland, which is located on the back just forward of the tail. CDC feathers are delicate, fluffy, and naturally water repellant. They trap air bubbles when wet, and therein lies the magic. CDC is buoyant and floats flies remarkably well. The downy soft fibers give form without adding weight, and the fluffy texture insures delicate presentations, even on glassy smooth waters.
Use of CDC in fly tying dates to the 1920s in the Jura Mountains near the Swiss-French border. Charles Bickel and Maximilien Joset were the earliest known tyers to float flies with CDC. Their “La mouche de Valorbe” flies had silk bodies and collars of CDC. The term “cul de canard” (roughly translated from French as “butt of duck”) was coined in the 1940s by Henri Bresson, a commercial French tyer who sold flies of the same name. CDC flies were regional favorites in France and Switzerland until the early 1980s, when Slovenian Marjan Fratnik wrote in a prominent German fly fishing magazine about CDC and described his “F Fly” (a merciful abbreviation of “Fratnikova puhovka”). Germany’s Gerhard Laible and Switzerland’s Mark Petitjean then followed with high profile articles on CDC in other European magazines. After 60 years of relative obscurity, media exposure suddenly made CDC popular throughout Europe. North Americans learned of CDC in the late 1980s from an English translation of Jean-Paul Pequegnot’s book French Fishing Flies (1984) and from Darrel Martin’s book Fly Tying Methods (1987). CDC hit the big time in the U.S. in 1991, when Rene Harrop wrote a ringing endorsment of CDC flies for fussy Montana trout in Fly Fisherman magazine.
CDC feathers are excellent for floating mayfly, caddisfly, and midge emergers, especially in smaller sizes. CDC flies float low in the surface, have indistinct profiles, and show subtle movements as the feather barbs quiver in the currents. One drawback of CDC is that it is easily waterlogged when dragged underwater by a hooked fish. Keeping CDC bone dry is essential and would be an intolerable nuisance were it not for hydrophobic fumed silica (e.g. “Frog’s Fanny”), a desiccant that restores wet CDC to like-new condition.
When you next sneak up on a stream with hatching insects and rising trout, reach for some butt of duck and fanny of frog. Then, show those fussy trout what a truly attractive emerger looks like.
Copyright 2019, Rusty Dunn
CDC Emerger
The tail and abdomen of this blue-winged olive CDC Emerger should hang below the surface, with the thorax and wing floating atop the water.
| Hook: |
2X-short, 3X-wide, curved, #14-#20 |
| Thread: |
8/0, brown-olive |
| Tail: |
Olive-brown or amber Z-lon or Antron |
| Abdomen: |
Two brown plus one black strands of “Superhair” |
| Thorax: |
Olive-brown hares’ mask, fibers picked out |
| Wingcase: |
Two natural dun CDC feathers pulled loosely over the dubbed thorax |
| Wings: |
Wingcase CDC feathers tied down behind the eye pointing upward and forward |
CDC Emerger
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Last Updated: July 9, 2019 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
You sneak up on a spring creek and quietly peek through the bushes. Jackpot! Emerging mayflies, rising trout, and a drop-dead gorgeous pool. Such moments are what fly fishing dreams are made of. But beware of Creeks bearing gifts. You, the trout, and the mayflies are in grave danger. The mayflies are at risk of being eaten by trout. The trout are at risk of being hooked by you. And you are at risk of being without an effective imitation. Those rising trout are likely feeding on emergers, which is the most difficult of all insect stages to imitate well.
Emergence of aquatic insects is an untidy struggle during which winged adults shed their nymphal/pupal skins, pierce through the water’s surface, expand and dry their wings, and eventually fly away to streamside bushes. Surface tension at the air-water interface acts like a rubbery flexible membrane that requires considerable force to penetrate. The process is quite dynamic, and emergers struggle mightily to traverse the surface film. The form and profile of emergers changes greatly during that struggle, and trout often key in on an elusive combination of size, profile, color, and movement. Have a fly that matches the key du jour, and your dreams will come true. Lack such a fly, and you will have nightmares.
Many of today’s most popular and successful emerger imitations have one thing in common … the butt of a duck. “Cul de canard” (CDC) feathers surround a duck’s preen gland, which is located on the back just forward of the tail. CDC feathers are delicate, fluffy, and naturally water repellant. They trap air bubbles when wet, and therein lies the magic. CDC is buoyant and floats flies remarkably well. The downy soft fibers give form without adding weight, and the fluffy texture insures delicate presentations, even on glassy smooth waters.
Use of CDC in fly tying dates to the 1920s in the Jura Mountains near the Swiss-French border. Charles Bickel and Maximilien Joset were the earliest known tyers to float flies with CDC. Their “La mouche de Valorbe” flies had silk bodies and collars of CDC. The term “cul de canard” (roughly translated from French as “butt of duck”) was coined in the 1940s by Henri Bresson, a commercial French tyer who sold flies of the same name. CDC flies were regional favorites in France and Switzerland until the early 1980s, when Slovenian Marjan Fratnik wrote in a prominent German fly fishing magazine about CDC and described his “F Fly” (a merciful abbreviation of “Fratnikova puhovka”). Germany’s Gerhard Laible and Switzerland’s Mark Petitjean then followed with high profile articles on CDC in other European magazines. After 60 years of relative obscurity, media exposure suddenly made CDC popular throughout Europe. North Americans learned of CDC in the late 1980s from an English translation of Jean-Paul Pequegnot’s book French Fishing Flies (1984) and from Darrel Martin’s book Fly Tying Methods (1987). CDC hit the big time in the U.S. in 1991, when Rene Harrop wrote a ringing endorsment of CDC flies for fussy Montana trout in Fly Fisherman magazine.
CDC feathers are excellent for floating mayfly, caddisfly, and midge emergers, especially in smaller sizes. CDC flies float low in the surface, have indistinct profiles, and show subtle movements as the feather barbs quiver in the currents. One drawback of CDC is that it is easily waterlogged when dragged underwater by a hooked fish. Keeping CDC bone dry is essential and would be an intolerable nuisance were it not for hydrophobic fumed silica (e.g. “Frog’s Fanny”), a desiccant that restores wet CDC to like-new condition.
When you next sneak up on a stream with hatching insects and rising trout, reach for some butt of duck and fanny of frog. Then, show those fussy trout what a truly attractive emerger looks like.
Copyright 2019, Rusty Dunn
CDC Emerger
The tail and abdomen of this blue-winged olive CDC Emerger should hang below the surface, with the thorax and wing floating atop the water.
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