Hook: TMC 200R, #10-16

Thread: 6/0 black, chartreuse UTC 70

Case: 2 brown and 1 black rooster hackle, wound tight up the body and trimmed

Abdomen and thorax: Caddis Green Ice Dubbing

Head: black Spectrablend dubbing (any semi-spiky dubbing will do)

I came up with the T.H.C. about 2 years ago when I needed a cased caddis that was both easy to tie and an accurate representation of the naturals.  This particular fly is tied to represent the larval form of the Grannom caddis, a fly found throughout the Rocky Mountains and the predominant caddis species in many streams.  If you’ve ever picked up a rock and found about 500 “little sticks” covering it, you have seen the Grannom caddis.  I like to fish this as the second fly in a double nymph rig very close to the bottom, which means (dry fly purists cringe!) lots of split shot.  I fish it on a dead drift, in rocky riffles and faster runs, and like to trail it behind a heavy stonefly or Copper John.

Directions

1)      Start the black thread and wind towards the bend, stopping just past the hook point. 

2)      Tie in 2 brown hackle feathers and 1 black hackle feather and then wrap your thread forward 2/3 of the way up the shank.

3)      Wrap all 3 feathers forward together towards the eye, making sure to keep the wraps tight.

4)      Tie off all 3 feathers, whip finish, and cut thread.

Wrapping the hackle

5)      Starting on top of the hook shank, trim the feathers down to form the “case.” Notice in the picture that, when trimmed, the case should have a generally round shape. 

Trimmed hackle

6)      Tie in chartreuse thread and dub a small abdomen of ice dubbing.  I make no more than 4 wraps, with 2-3 being better.  Make sure to keep the abdomen smaller than the case.

7)      Whip finish the chartreuse thread, trim, and restart the black thread.

8)      Dub a tight thorax that is similar in size to the abdomen and whip finish. 

Tying Notes

I like to use extremely large hackles for this fly, so that when you trim them short it forms a tight case. Smaller feathers will get the job done but just don’t look quite as good.  Also, it’s a great use of those giant feathers on your cape that you never seem to need for anything else.