CDC Material

[murrhunts]

Hello everyone new to the site thanks for the add.

I have been tying for a little while but still have a lot to learn, I have a friend that is teaching me but he is stuck in his ways and never tries anything new. My question is can you use CDC to tie all your dry flies or is there times that more traditional material is better or is it just personal preference?

I do enjoy tying but I also don't want to spend more time at the vise than on the water, to me it looks like using CDC is less material and quicker.

Thanks for the input

 

[Dave_W]

Welcome murrhunts.

You'll get different opinions on this, but I would say the answer to your question is no.

There are just too many types of dry flies with different applications and CDC just can't cover all of them. In particular, larger dry flies require stiffer or more buoyant material such as traditional hackle or even foam. CDC has limitations, one of which is its tendency to get slimed when eaten by a fish requiring it to be kept cleaned and treated with powder treatments making it more time consuming and complicated to fish with.

I have mixed feelings about CDC in general... but do like it for very small dry flies that imitate midges, blue-winged olives, and very small terrestrials. These would be flies tied on hooks size 20 and smaller.

 

[tomgamber]

I like it for parachutes. I use hackle tips for most other wings. Occasionally I'll break down an use quills like I'm supposed to.

 

[kobalt335]

I know a few people who swear by cdc, and tie everything up to about a size 12 with it. I prefer to use hair, in my experience it is more durable and less maintenance than cdc. However, like Dave said there are those days where small flies with cdc can be the ticket. Its a nice material to have and use, but personally not my first choice.

 

[RLeep2]

Although it is very popular and I know it is that way for good reasons, I've never been all that keen on CDC. As Dave sort of notes upthread, it can require a lot of fussing around with. In the size range I normally tie in, I've yet to find an application where CDC might be called for that I can't use snowshoe or even one of the synthetic yarns and get the sort of look and performance I want.

 

[dryflyguy]

I don't care for CDC , and don't use it at all.
Much prefer the way hackled flies look and float.

But I'm getting old, and have gotten pretty set in my ways.........

 

[redietz]

Dave_W wrote:

I have mixed feelings about CDC in general...

I have a real love/hate affair with the stuff myself. I'll only use it as sole means of floating a fly in situations where I'm trying to catch a fish, as opposed to many. (Like a large rising fish that has refused other flies.) The "clean it, try it, powder it" bit only works for me a couple of times at best.

I do like CDC & Elk as an alternative to an Elk Hair Caddis, because it's the elk (or more commonly deer) hair that's keeping the fly afloat, and it's a bit quicker to tie than an EHC.

 

[afishinado]

murrhunts wrote:
Hello everyone new to the site thanks for the add.

I have been tying for a little while but still have a lot to learn, I have a friend that is teaching me but he is stuck in his ways and never tries anything new. My question is can you use CDC to tie all your dry flies or is there times that more traditional material is better or is it just personal preference?

I do enjoy tying but I also don't want to spend more time at the vise than on the water, to me it looks like using CDC is less material and quicker.

Thanks for the input

As you can discern from all the above posts, no one fly or material is a "do all" for tying your flies.

Like most of us, you are likely to find different ties for different flies work best for your trout fishing.

I tie some flies in Catskill patterns, parachute, comparadun, CDC wing, etc. depending on the fly itself and/or fishing conditions and most of all the preference of fish themselves.

And if agree with what has been written in the above post that CDC flies are persnickety to fish, but sometimes necessary to fool trout.

Good luck with your tying and fishing.

 

[poopdeck]

Great thing about tying is you can do whatever works for you. I like tying flies that are quick and easy. Traditional dry fly materials are quick and easy to work with as well so any time saved at the vise would be minimal. I can't see how tying with CDC or not has any correlation to fishing time since most anglers tie at night time, winter time, times of bad weather, high water levels and any time other then fishing time. As already mentioned, CDC requires a lot of attention while fishing. That alone would negatively affect fishing time more so then tying with other materials.

However you slice the apple enjoy the journey.

 

[JerryC]

I use CDC for various flies. I've tied nymphs with it. I use it for both body and wing on my midge patterns. I use it for the bodies on some of my mayfly patterns. Already mentioned, the CDC and Elk, actually the originator tied it with deer hair. It's my go to caddis pattern. Easy pattern to tie.

 

[murrhunts]

Thanks for the help guys, I am heading to the shop today to get supplies and didn't want to waste my money.

 

[Brianh]

I keep a small rubber band on my vest that I use to dry water logged cdc files. Just a few "twangs" on the rubber band and the cdc is as good as new.

 

[coyoterahn]

In addition to dries, it works for some nice “buggy” nymphs.

 

[wbranch]

I used to use divided natural lemon wood duck wings on many of my Catskill style dries. Then for years I used turkey flat segments to create my dry fly wings. Sometimes I've used various colors of Z-lon for winging material. However above all else for at least the last dozen years I use nothing but premium natural dark dun for virtually all my dry flies, except sulfurs, in the #12 - #22 sizes. For sulfurs I use premium light or medium dyed CDC. Not Puffs which are useless but the tips of selected CDC feathers.

On larger dries like the drakes and maybe Iso's I prefer natural animal hair like coastal deer or any hair that won't flare when I tie it down.

 

[laszlo]

What makes the puffs undesirable, I bought a couple packs because they looked like they would make good small wings.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Check this article out for all you need to know and more about CDC: Tying with CDC with Hans Weilenmann

IMO...

Using CDC & Elk as a model, CDC adds a different profile and movement to dries, wets, nymphs and emergers. Caddis don't float on the surface like mayflies do. The caddis I've seen on the surface seems to be spent. They are a mess of legs and wings. CDC & Elk or CDC & hackle tips or z-lon tied delta wing style imitate this easy meal very well.

CDC has two great qualities:1. it traps air bubbles in it's interlaced fibers that aids in floatation; 2. it is very fine and soft like tiny marabou, adding life-like movement to fly patterns. And, like Marabou, CDC shines when wrapped but loses much of it's magic when clumped too tightly.

After you get good at tying techniques, you can be open to using materials creatively and testing those on the water to see if your ideas pan out. Having a functional understanding of materials helps to minimize the duds and maximize the fun!

 

[Baron]

Thanks for that post. Trying to understand CDC. When working with this does one generally use thread in the smaller sizes?

 

[Tigereye]

It depends on 2 factors. If just tying on top of hook to resemble a wing, the hook size is the key factor. If wrapping around the hook like a hackle i like to downsize my thread to avoid bulk.

As a general rule I use 8/0 thread for everything except for larger streamers and nymphs, size 12 and up.

 

[Baron]

As I suspected Tigereye. I just watched Dave Mcphail do the same. On a Salmon Fly he put down the base including the tinsel on the shank with a heavier thread and then switched to 8/0 for the hackles and wings.

 

[Tigereye]

McPhail is a master. You learn from him, and you are learning from argueably one of the top 10 tyers in the world. Even though I've been tying for 40 years, I still check his videos before tying a fly. Always a technique or two that I can improve after watching him.