Peeking Caddis (Gary Borger)

Detailed tying instructions for this fly are in Gary Borger's Designing Trout Flies, which is probably my favorite fly tying book. His instructions are more detailed, and he provides variations to match different nymphs. 
Hook:   3XL Nymph, size to suit natural. Mine are size 10
Thread: Black
Weight: Non-lead wire wrapped on rear 1/3 of hook shank.
Case:   Dubbing Blend (hare mask, fox squirrel body, and tan antron yarn), tied in a dubbing loop with sections of flashy material inserted.
Peeking Abdomen: Caddis Green Haretron
Peeking Thorax: Black Haretron
Legs:   Pheasant tail barbs
1. Weight rear 1/3 of the hook. Attach thread and wrap the shank, securing wire.
2. I usually form the case this way, which is slightly different than Borger's directions, although it is the same idea. Pull off about 6" of thread and dub heavily and loosely on it. Then pull off another 7" of thread and apply dubbing wax thinly to it. Loop the thread back over the hook shank and wind forward to about the 2/3s position. Now insert about a half-dozen 3/4" pieces of flashy material into the dubbing loop. The wax makes it fairly easy to stick these pieces to the thread so they won't fall out. I used gold Krystal Flash and Pearl Flashabou on the flies I tied for the swap. Twist the loop tight and wind it forward. Stroke back the pieces of flashy material on each wrap so they don't get covered by dubbing.
3. The case should be fairly thick and not tapered toward the front.
4. Dub the peeking abdomen and thorax, covering about 1/2 of the remaining hook shank with each.
5. Take about a half-dozen pheasant tail barbs and pre-trim them. Tie them on underneath the shank, pointing toward the hook point. I usually make a slack loop and then pull the barbs back to where I've trimmed them, then tighten up with more thread wraps. This way I don't have to try trimming them close to the hook eye.
6. Finish the head and tie off.

Borger says he uses this fly in lakes with Great Success. I haven't had a chance to try it that way, yet, but I've had good luck dead drifting them along the bottom even in pretty heavy flows.

Dave Guinee (dguinee@umich.edu)