In his 1976 tome, Nymph Fishing For Larger Trout, Charles (Charlie) Brooks describes his own pattern, "Difficult fly to make, due to the difficulty of tying the hair down so that it will not loosen, and keeping it twisted tightly enough so the turns remain separate. It is the best cased caddis imitation I know of, and has taken many fish for me over the last twenty some years. I just wish there was an easier way to tie it."
Don't let the aforementioned scare you from tying Shunk Hair Caddis. If it wasn't for me wanting a somewhat aesthetically pleasing picture I would have knocked out nearly a dozen within the hour. Give this pattern a shot. It is very deadly and perhaps still the best imitation for cased caddis.
Tying notes:
(1) This fly should be weighted heavily to get down into the rocks, I used tungsten sheeting cut into strips and wrapped. Lob casting here I come!
(2) The body is made by tightly twisting skunk hair taken from the tail. You'll want to find the longest of the hairs (typically located between the mid section and tip). These hairs are generally around 4-inches in length. Once the hair is removed from the tail, align the the tips and tie in near the rear of the body. Pull hair straight down to tighten the bunch and then tightly twist counter-clockwise. Use the rotary feature of your vise. This will keep the hair twisted, but you may have to slightly re-tighten to keep the segmented look even. Leave a little extra room at the head of the fly for securing the skunk hair.
(3) Charlie recommended 2XL hooks sizes 6 to 10. I used a TMC 200R style hook to mimic the slight bend in the caddis' case.
Materials:
Hook: 2XL nymph or curved nymph hook. e.g, TMC 200R, sizes 6 to 10. (Size 8 pictured.)
Thread: 3/0 or 6/0, black
Body: Skunk hair taken from the tail and tightly twisted
Ribbing: Copper tied in at the head and wrapped rearward and then back over the body..
Hackle: Soft black hen, one or two turns,
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