Substitutes for calftail on Trudes?

Howdy,

In preparation for my trip to the Crowsnest at the end of
July/beginning of August, I've been stocking up the flyboxes. From
what I've read, the Lime Trude is aa excellent all-purpose fly for
that time of year, so yesterday I started tying some. In going
through my materials, I ran across some white CDC oiler puffs, and got
to thinking about how they might work as a wing on a Trude. I tend to
fish a Trude as a combination dry/wet by letting it swing and
retrieving it like a streamer after the drift, and it seems like the
CDC might add a bit of extra appeal.

I tied some up with the CDC, and in the vise they look very nice.
I know that the only way to know for sure is to ty them, but I was
just curious if any ROFFians or ROFFTians have played around with
substituting CDC like this. I was also thinking that the "hi-viz"
stuff might make a nice wing on Trudes.

So am I just getting carried away with my "improvements", or is
there some legitimacy to making a sub like that? Any other subs that
you frequently make to traditional flies?

Also, I tied up a few of the CDC and elk caddis imitations
(http://www.troutflies.com/Merchant2/...y_Code=cdc_elk)
and was thinking about other variations. Any suggestions for other
color schemes that have been succesful for you?


Chuck Vance