october caddis?

[gonfishn]

my son and I were out fishing tonight and we saw the biggest caddis[I am assuming october caddis based on the size] dipping on the water.
the closest I could come to matching it was a size 10 EHC and that was still dwarfed by the caddis on the water.I tied up some on #6
hooks after we got home I used tan foam for the body then palmered it with brown hackle
and tied in an elk hair wing this thing should float like a cork

[flyfisherjoe]

Yes, it is that time of the year.

A Stimulator pattern seems to work well when the october caddis are about.

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Joe

[jeff98390j]

Dont forget about a pupa! The october caddis on the Yakima are huge too, and I have had some really good days with stimulators in the afternoon and evening. During the mornings and early afternoon though, a good pupa fished under and indicator have always produced more for me.

The patter I use is rather simple. Body to match the color, a hungarian partridge softhackle collar, tan CDC wing, and a brown head. I tie them with lead substitute to get them down quick. Biggest rainbow I have landed in the Yakima was taken on the OC pupa.

There is nothing like a trout taking a dry skated though, as the takes are usually pretty aggressive.

Have fun tying and fishing them, Jeff

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Tis my time on the water, in the mountains, and in my driftboat where I can see things as they really are.

[rriver]

I had a question on caddis. I fish alot of caddis nymphs, pupa and dries, but late at night I see big fish coming up for something that I think is a spent caddis, because I don't think they would rise for a mayfly spinner like that. These fish are usually steelhead and I would love to figure out what they are feeding on. Nothing is hatching, and this is a feeding rise.

I notice spent caddis, with their wings spread out, not quite dead when I wade. Kind of like a 4 wing spinner with no tail.

Now the question. Why no spent caddis patterns (hardly), and if you see a few they have the wings back, not flat.

Is the bug I'm seeing not spent but drowned? Any one have any ideas?

Thanks ...

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- rriver


[This message has been edited by rriver (edited 16 September 2005).]

One of the problems with tying this pattern is the size of the fly. The hook size needed may be an 8 or even a 6. That's heavy metal, literally. To off-set some of the weight, yet retain the length of the body, you may want to use a hook model that is 2 sizes smaller and 2xl. That will give you a thinner wire, lighter weighing hook, with about the same body length but also a smaller gape.

Hans, if you read this, let's not get into the minutia about what xs, xl, xf, xh means in terms of modern hooks. The idea is that a lighter wire, longer shank hook can be substituted for a standard hook and thereby reduce the weight of the hook itself so the fly has a similar length and will float better.

Allan

[rriver]

Humor me for a minute. What I was thinking of was the beginnings of an elk hair caddis (orange body, palmered), and then 2 sets of antron wings like a mayfly spinner.

In LaFontaine's Caddisflies, not a mention of spent caddis (at least I don't think).

I guess I should have looked first:

Fly Angler's OnLine "Fly of the Week #13"
Antron Spent Caddis (November 24th-30th, 1997)

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- rriver


[This message has been edited by rriver (edited 16 September 2005).]

[loteckjoe]

I tie mine on a size 10 streamer hook by Mustad. For the body, I use Aunt Lydia's rust colored yarn, then palmer a brown furnace hackle. Then either copper, brass or red wire ribbing. Use half again as much elk hair as you think you should, and cut it long. It's not a really heavy fly, and floats well. The finished size is smaller than the real thing, but they work like a charm, and I don't have to think about what I'm doing when I tie them.



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He Knocks. You Only Have To Ask.

[Benjo]

I too have seen many October caddis lately. Seems they are a bit early around here. I like to fish an orange stimulator for this hatch and I skitter it across the surface for explosive agressive strikes. Sometimes I will fish an orange barfly or an orange Goddard caddis for this hatch. Orange goddard is a great pattern.

[DUB]

This is the pattern I use for the October Caddis. Like Allan, I use a Mustad 9672 in size 12. I also use Brown Hackle instead of Grizzly.
[url=http://www.danica.com/flytier/jlafevers/orange_asher.htm:a4638]http://www.danica.com/flytier/jlafevers/orange_asher.htm[/url:a4638]

Wayne

[This message has been edited by DUB (edited 17 September 2005).]

i use a spent caddis pattern all through the summer. it works well during the peak of the hatch and late into the evening when the big boys lazily slurp them off the surface. in fact, i carry a collection of spent and a collection of emergers, and dont even hardly tie on an adult through most of the summer.

heres the pattern i use for my spent:

i typically tie it on a size larger than an adult would be, i.e.: #18 adults, use a #16 spent, etc.

wrap the abdomen with muskrat dubbing, tie in ginger hackle tips(2) for the rear wings, 2 turns of ginger hakle(for floatation), and then 2 more ginger hackle tips for the front wings. a largish muskrat fur head, whipfinish, and catch a trout. easy pattern, and fun to dead drift during and after a nice caddis hatch.

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Everyone dies. Only the lucky ever truly Live. Take your time.

Chris-Bishop, CA, USA