The fly was created in 1957 by legendary fly tyer and schoolteacher Al Troth while he was living in Pennsylvania. He first fished the pattern on Loyalsock Creek in eastern Pennsylvania to match a specific green caddis hatch that local trout were keyed into.I
nterestingly, Troth did not intend to make a dry fly. He was actually trying to build a wet fly—an emerger pattern that he could swing through river riffles. Inspired by classic palmered flies like G.E.M. Skues’ Little Red Sedge, Troth combined a lightly dubbed fur body, a rooster hackle, and a wing made of hollow elk hair. What he did not anticipate was just how much air gets trapped inside hollow elk hair. Instead of sinking, the fly floated like a cork, resulting in an accidentally perfect dry fly.
