- Hook: #12-16 dry fly
- Thread: Tan, or to match body
- Body: Dubbing or yarn, color to match your caddis flies
- Underwing: Natural CDC under 1.5 mm foam
- Wing: Natural deer hair (or elk)
- Head: Foam, folded back
I actually wasn't planning on making a video of this one, but Jim Vatter brought it to my attention and I couldn’t resist. The last fly we did was a Madame X variation and Jim made the comment that that fly looked like a cross between a Madam X and a Balloon Caddis. And I'd never heard of a Balloon Caddis. And I fish caddis dry flies all the time! So, I looked it up and discovered that it's a pretty cool pattern.
Now there are a lot of versions of it out there but it turns out the distinguishing feature is a big foam head up front. I'm doing this one with a bit of a foam underwing as well. I think that part's up to you if you want to do that or not, but I want this thing to be more like a Neversink Caddis so a bit more foam couldn’t hurt. Check out the video below and let us know in the comments if you've ever tied or fished this one.