Equipment Outfitters

I first met Ed many years ago during a fishing trip to the streams of the Western Cape: I had spent a long day on the upper Elandspad River with two friends and was making my way downstream when I happened across two anglers fishing a quiet run on the bend of the river. One waved me a cheerful greeting as I walked behind through the bush, giving them ample berth to continue their upstream angling. These two anglers, it later transpired, were Ed Herbst and Tony Biggs’s late son, Damon. Though we did not meet officially that day on the Elandspad River, I followed Ed’s writings with interest. His experiments with artificial flies interested me because he was forever importing unusual fly-tying materials to try in his patterns. To me, Ed is the Gary LaFontaine of South African fly-tying, and I believe that in the Xmas Xaddis he has developed a patternthat will come to be regarded as an African fly-fishers.

The Xmas Xaddis, like many successful South African dry flies, evolved on the fast, tumbling mountain streams of the Western Cape. Ed says the pattern is a combination of existing facets of fly design and two new materials - Cactus Chenille and nylon organza - which, when incorporated into a dry fly, significantly enhance its appeal.

The Xmas Xaddis had its origins in a Fly Fisherman magazine article entitled ‘The New Synthetics’ by American angling author, Gary Borger. For many years Gary used a snail pattern reminiscent of the effective Renegade, a simple dry fly with a hackle at either end of a peacockerl body. By replacing the peacock hen with Cactus Chenille, he found that his snail pattern was greatly improved. Cactus Chenille consists of a material trapped between two twisted threads, but in this case the material is Flashabou.

Ed tied up a single pattern for a trip to the Barkly East area, but for one reason or another did not make the trip and the fly was not put through its paces. It was relegated to his fly box until a trip to the Holsloot River near Rawsonville in December. The day was cold and blustery, promising little and initially delivering little. He knew that the previous weekend Tom Sutcliffe and his son had taken several fish from the Smalblaar River in the adjoining Du Toit’s Kloof valley and had found beetles among the stomach contents of several of these trout. Ed had only one beetle pattern in his box, and after a fishless hour lost the fly. The only other pattern he had which looked like a beetle was Borger’s Cactus Chenille Snail, tied on a heavy wire hook. Without much hope of success, he tied it on and cast it into the next run. Despite the heavy hook, the fly floated surprisingly well, and a fish vaulted out of the water to take it. Missing the fish, Ed put another cast into the run and again the fish repeated its performance - Ed once again failed to connect with the fish. Unbelievably, a third cast produced a third rise, albeit a conventional one, and again Ed missed the trout. A fourth cast into the same run induced a much larger trout to rise to the fly, but after a brief connection the fish was gone.

Feeling rather disconsolate, Ed made his way up to the Stettynskloof dam wall further up the valley. After a break for lunch, he fished the spillway pool below the wall of the lake. Despite the strongly flowing water, the fly had drifted no more than a few inches before it was taken by a fish much larger than that considered the norm for the river. Despite being broken off, the pattern had raised five fish in five casts, while other patterns had failed to interest the trout at all.

Ed concluded that the pattern’s success lay in the strands of Flashabou in the Cactus Chenille which reflected many points of light, creating the impression of movement in the same way a series of still images, when projected onto a screen, create the illusion of movement. Ed had also used another material mentioned in Borger’s article - nylon organza (also known as Twinkle, Crystal or Sparkle Organza) which, according to Borger, ‘…has filaments that twinkle and shine with a pearlescent glow’. These filaments not only glow but also have a crimp in them, not unlike miniature Krystal Flash, and have been used with great success by Borger for wings in spinner patterns. Ed incorporated these filaments into the pattern using Lee Wulff’s loop-wing technique, giving the pattern a moth- or caddis-like appearance.

The Xmas Xaddis floats reasonably well because the broad base of the wings provides a stable platform on which the pattern can ride, and there is plenty of material to soak up floatant. The pattern is also easy for the angler to see because the material used in it reflects light, making it twinkle as it floats downstream (Ed believes it is this effect under the water that attracts fish).

Those who are curious may be wondering how the pattern got its name: the Cactus Chenille is reminiscent of the tinsel draped over Christmas trees, and the Lee Wulff loop-style wing and Krystal Flash antennae give the fly a caddis-like appearance, hence the name ‘Xmas Xaddis‘.

Many anglers who have fished this pattern have had a dramatic change in their fishing fortunes, finding that the fly will draw trout from considerable distances, even from undercut banks. Trout seem to take the fly aggressively, which Ed believes is a result of the sparkle the fly emits, creating the key impression of frantic movement. Ed fishes it upstream, using a dead drift, and says there is no reason to impart movement to the fly since the materials used in its construction do this already. Tom Sutcliffe says that the Xmas Xaddis could supplant the DDD as South Africa’s most successful stillwater dry fly, and all who have tried it have been impressed by the distance trout will move to take it and the aggression with which they do so.

How to make your own XMAS XADDIS

HOOK: Tiemco 100, #8 — #18.

THREAD: 8/0 prewaxed, colour to match underbody.

WING: Krystal Flash or Orvis Holographic tinsel and organzafilaments. (Ed prefers grey or pearl Krystal Flash.)
UNDERBODY: Mixture of Lite-Brite dubbing material andseal’s fur, or SLF substitute, blended.

OVERBODY: Cactus Chenille. (Ed’s favourite colour is brown.)

RIB: DMC metallic thread (preferably #4270), Anchor Lame embroidery thread (preferably shade 322) or fine copper wire. (DMC or Anchor Lame threads are available from embroidery or wool shops.)

HEAD: Peacock herl.

ANTENNAE: Krystal Flash.

HACKLE: Brown or grizzly.

1. Tie in approximately 10 to 12 organza filaments and a length of Holographic Tinsel above the barb of the hook, on each side of the hook shank.
2. Tie in the rib and Cactus Chenille above the hook barb. Spin a thin noodle of dubbing onto the thread and form the underbody over two-thirds of the hook shank.
3. Pick out the underbody, making it as loose as possible, then wind the Cactus Chenille forward, covering the underbody, and tie off. Wind the rib forward through this overbody, tie off and trim the excess.
4. On either side of the hook shank, wrap the organza filaments around the Krystal Flash and then fold them forward and tie off in front of the body, forming a heart-shaped silhouette if the pattern is looked at from above.
5. Tie in two or three peacock herls and a hackle in front of the overbody, with the concave side of the hackle facing away from the shank. Tie in two lengths of Krystal Flash vertically to form the antennae.
6. Form the head with the herls and tie off. Take two or three turns of the hackle through the herls, tie off and trim the excess. Form a neat thread head, half-hitch and trim the thread. Apply head cement to the wraps.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Fly Fishing with Home Made Xmas Xaddis

• Outdoor Hiking Clothing and Footwear for the Walker
• Fly Fishing with Home Made Trico Spinner
• Stillwaters Fly Fishing with Home Made DDD
• Marabou Muddler Fly Fishing
• White Death Fly Fishing Bait continue...
• Fly Fishing with Home Made Dave's Hopper
• The right Boat Gear Storage Aboard
• Fly-fishing with Home Made Foam Beetle
• Motorcycle/Motorbike Riding Gear, tips on Gloves and Cowboy Boots
• The Zonker, a Baitfish Imitation