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Sloan’s Caddis Paralyzer – a bringing together of great ideas
Olive Caddis Paralyzer
Tying Instructions
1. Start the thread behind the eye and lay a foundation to the midpoint of the hook shank. Now, wrap the thread back towards the eye halfway. This location (25%) is also about 1/2 the hook gap.
2. Cut some Calf Body Hair from the hide. Comb out the soft underfur and stack the remaining to even the tips. Pull the hair out of the stacker with your right hand, as the tips will be facing right when you tie in.
3.Holding the hair in your left hand, you can measure the needed length, this should be just less than twice the hook gap.
4. Secure the hair to the top of the shank, making your first wrap around the postion of the hair that you measured for length. The placement of your grip on the hair defines this position. Next, wrap more tight wraps towards the back of the hair. You can minimize spreading of the hair by applying extra tension to the thread in a up-down motion, not side to side. Lift the butt ends of the hair to create a tapered cut and secure this tapered base with thread wraps. You should be finished about the midpoint of the hook shank.
5. Place a piece of ribbing material below the shank and secure with thread wraps going almost to the bend of the hook. Next, apply some flash material to the bend of the hook for a shuck. On the Caddis Paralyzer, the flash is attached at the beginning of the abdomen for an underwing in Step 9. As an underwing, trim the flash so that is does not exceed end of the abdomen.
6.Apply dubbing to the thread and slide the dubbing up the thread until it just touches the hook shank. Applying one wrap, you can lock these fibers in and twist the material into a tighter mass.
7. Dub a nicely tapered body. The body will cover approximately 70% of the hook shank, leaving 30% for the head. Attach a ribbing hackle just behind the base of the calf hair. I’m using a size 20 hackle.
8. Palmer the hackle in 4 evenly spaced wraps to the back of the abdomen. Take the copper wire ribbing and secure the hackle with it by making two initial wraps at the back of the abdomen and then spiral the wire forward to the end of the abdomen, tie it off and cut it.
9. Cut the hackle tip that is at the back of the abdomen tight to the fly. On these smaller sizes, you may need to trim the hackle fibers.
10. Comb and Stack a clump of Natural Elk Body Hair. Orient the tube so that your left hand pulls out the material.
11. Tie in the hair at the beginning of the abdomen with the length being just beyond the end of the hook. The wing itself should encompass the top 180 degrees of the hook.
12. Lift the butts of the wing hair so that you can trim without capturing any of the claf body hair in front of it. Trim as closely as possible and secure with additional thread wraps.
13. Wrap forward and post the Calf Body Hair. Wrap the thread up high enough on the post to get 3-4 wraps of hackle around it.
14. Tie in a hackle of the appropriate size and secure it to the post, shiny side out. Bring the thread back to where the wing was tied in at and dub a tapered thorax from the base of the wing to the eye of the hook.
15. Take the Hackle and make 3-4 wraps down the post to form the parachute. Tie the hackle off right behind the eye of the hook. To keep from trapping fibers, I pull back on the hackle and bring the thread up against the guill just behind the eye. If you pull the hackle away from you, the fibers will open wide enough for the thread to secure bare quill. Then, I slide the bobbin up the thread getting it close to the eye and make 2-3 thread wraps using the end of the bobbin to push away the fibers to keep from trapping them with the thread wraps.
16. Now, you can lift up the parachute fibers near the eye with your left hand and secure with additional thread wraps. I use a half hitch tool to secure the thread with about 3-4 hitches. Clip any stray hackle fibers.
17. Take a drop of head cement and put it on the post at the upper most wrap of hackle to ensure that it does not slip off.
18. The finished Paralyzer.
| Materials
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|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 100 #12-16 |
| Thread | Danville 6/0, Olive |
| Body | Olive Superfine Dubbing |
| Ribbing | Grizzly Hackle palmered with Small Copper Wire |
| Wingpost | Calf Body Hair |
| Underwing | UV Pearl Krystalflash |
| Wing | Natural Bull Elk Hair |
| Hackle | Brown Hackle |
David Sloan
Sloan’s Caddis Paralyzer
David Sloan is a fly fishing guide and fly tier based at American Fly Shop in Sacramento, CA. Many of his patterns are marketed through Umpqua Feather Merchants and distributed throughout the world. An earlier pattern, Sloan’s Paralyzer, was a creation of his in 2005 being a merging of the highly successful Stimulator and Schroeder’s Parachute Hopper. He condensed this pattern three years later to create the Sloan’s Caddis Paralyzer which was much more effective with caddis.
Condensed Version of the Paralyzer
The Paralyzer was tied on a smaller 2xL dry fly hook, the Tiemco 2312, and could be used for small stoneflies and caddis imitations. David tied these in three colorations, Orange (October Caddis), Olive (Caddis), and Yellow (Little Yellow Stones). Soon, legs were added to the pattern and a Tan coloration was added for imitating the lighter colored small hoppers and stones of late Summer. A few years later, David adjusted the pattern once more by tying the pattern onto a Tiemco 100 or 101 hook. This condensed version became known as Sloan’s Caddis Paralyzer and is generally tied in Olive, size 14-16.
Caddis Paralyzer
What makes Sloan’s Caddis Paralyzer an exceptional pattern is the Parachute hackle and the caddis-type wing that resides on the top of the shank. As a result, the fly rests well within the surface film presenting a clear view to the trout. The wing post makes the pattern quite easy to see and the heavy hackling gives this fly great floatability in turbulent waters. Either Hollow Deer Hair or Elk Hair can be used for the wing. The preferred presentation of this pattern is an upstream cast allowing a drag-free drift through runs and riffles.
Variations
October Caddis Paralyzer
| Hook | TMC 2312 #10 |
| Thread | Danville 6/0, Burnt Orange |
| Body | Rusty Orange Hare's Ear Dubbing |
| Thorax | Rusty Orange Hare's Ear Dubbing |
| Shuck | UV Pearl Krystalflash |
| Wingpost | Calf Body Hair |
| Wing | Deer Hair |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle, size #12 |
| Ribbing | Grizzly Hackle, size #20 palmered with Small Copper Wire |
Golden Caddis Paralyzer
| Hook | TMC 2312 #12-16 |
| Thread | Danville 6/0, Yellow |
| Body | Golden Stone Haretron |
| Thorax | Golden Stone Haretron |
| Shuck | UV Pearl Krystalflash |
| Wingpost | Calf Body Hair |
| Wing | Natural Bull Elk Hair |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle |
| Ribbing | Grizzly Hackle palmered with Small Copper Wire |
Olive Caddis Paralyzer
| Hook | TMC 2312 #12-16 |
| Thread | Danville 6/0, Olive |
| Body | Brown Olive Superfine Dubbing |
| Thorax | Brown Olive Superfine Dubbing |
| Shuck | UV Pearl Krystalflash |
| Wingpost | Calf Body Hair |
| Wing | Bleached Bull Elk Hair |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle |
| Ribbing | Grizzly Hackle palmered with Small Copper Wire |
Tan Rubberleg Caddis Paralyzer
| Hook | TMC 2312 #12-16 |
| Thread | Danville 6 /0, Tan |
| Body | March Brown Haretron |
| Thorax | March Brown Haretron |
| Tail | Crazy Legs Brown/Black flake |
| Legs | Crazy Legs Brown/Black flake |
| Wingpost | Calf Body Hair |
| Underwing | UV Pearl Krystalflash |
| Wing | Bleached Bull Elk Hair |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle, size #12 |
| Ribbing | Grizzly Hackle, size #20 palmered with Small Copper Wire |