Overlooked Caddis Stage Pattern

[flybugpa]

I have the book , re read it and the only thing i can think of is whatever species of caddis the are describing does not exist here or in some other parts of the country, by what they describe. I do agree with SilverCreeks post exactly as he describes as to the entire "hatch" proccess. I spend a great deal of time looking at bugs that we have here in the east and have never obererved the quick emergence that Craig and John describe, which is why i believe it must be a different specie. Although LaFontaines book was written/about in the western states. gotta go to work. this will be "bugging " me all day

[John Rhoades]

The various species of Hydropsyche Caddis are far and away the most important caddis in the Yellowstone region.

I live right on the Yellowstone River during the summer, 35 miles north of Yellowstone National Park, where I've got a bird's eye view of this hatch over the course of the season. Periodically I like to glass the river's surface with my binoculars (mine are Swarovsky EL 10x42's). I'm always amazed what one can see with these binoculars that are impossible to see with your naked eyes, and I can see that the river's surface is often littered with these insects.

Fish feed heavily on Hydropsyche during both emergence and egg laying, but emergence is the major stage. Emergences occur in the evening, and can last for several hours, often well past dark.

Though I believe that the trout are feeding primarily on pupae, many of these emerging caddis get stuck in their shucks which is why the Iris caddis, X-caddis, or CDC & Elk, work successfully. I personally like to fish a Parachute Adams at that time, often taking upwards of 20 trout on it in a couple hours of late evening fishing.

[Silver Creek]

The various species of Hydropsyche Caddis are far and away the most important caddis in the Yellowstone region.

I live right on the Yellowstone River during the summer, 35 miles north of Yellowstone National Park, where I've got a bird's eye view of this hatch over the course of the season. Periodically I like to glass the river's surface with my binoculars (mine are Swarovsky EL 10x42's). I'm always amazed what one can see with these binoculars that are impossible to see with your naked eyes, and I can see that the river's surface is often littered with these insects.

Fish feed heavily on Hydropsyche during both emergence and egg laying, but emergence is the major stage. Emergences occur in the evening, and can last for several hours, often well past dark.

Though I believe that the trout are feeding primarily on pupae, many of these emerging caddis get stuck in their shucks which is why the Iris caddis, X-caddis, or CDC & Elk, work successfully. I personally like to fish a Parachute Adams at that time, often taking upwards of 20 trout on it in a couple hours of late evening fishing.

I have a pair of Leica 10X42 Trinovid binocs and I agree with you that in low light conditions the 42 mm objective lens gathers more light than our own eyes can and coupled with the magnifying power, it allows us to see things we could not with our unaided eyes. So again the variances in the descriptions of what is happening is based on perception. A person looking with his unaided eye may not see caddis on the water at or after dusk. But with a pair of binoculars, you can.

Binoculars have a "twilight factor" which is a combination of magnification and objective lens size. It is a theoretical number, but gives you an idea of how much better your vision is with a pair of binocs. The twilight factor of my binocs is about 18. But not all binocs with the same theoretical twilight factor are the same and quality binocs with quality lens coatings are better.

The success of a parachute adams speaks to the fact that it is an universal emerger and not just a mayfly pattern. Gary says that during the process of emergence midges, caddis, and mayflies have similar shapes. It is only before emergence during the larval and nymphal stage, or after as an adult, that they differentiate. They all must stop at the meniscus and break through a "trap door" by placing their pupal/nymphal bodies against the underside of the meniscus and then breaking through using the junction of the body and meniscus as the door to the our world.

Gary wrote, ""Transitional Stage 3. The insect pulls its head out of the shuck, followed almost immediately by the legs. At this point it enters stage 3, which is matched perfectly by the universal emerger: a Parachute Adams (or other fly with an upright parachute post such as the Klinkhammer). [See The Klinkhammer Special in the Dec. 2006 issue for more details. The Editor.]"

It so happens that the Klinkhammer Special was designed by Hans van Klinken as a caddis emerger but we know that it works for mayflies as well. When I saw the Klinkhammer special, I noted the similarity to a parachute. In fact, a parachute adams can be turned into a Klinkhammer Special by cutting off the tail and bending the hook.

See Wisconsin Trout, pg 23 below:

http://www.wisconsintu.org/LinkClick...bid=58&mid=381

[Byron haugh]

From a website about caddisflies:

The presence of caddisfly adults in the air does not mean that the angler should immediately switch to an imitation. As Swisher and Richards put it in Selective Trout:

They are often seen over the water when they are doing nothing more than flying around.

More often it's the caddisflies you don't see that are important, the females diving underwater to lay their eggs or the pupae drifting below the surface preparing to emerge.

[Byron haugh]

John,
You said "

Though I believe that the trout are feeding primarily on pupae, many of these emerging caddis get stuck in their shucks which is why the Iris caddis, X-caddis, or CDC & Elk, work successfully. I personally like to fish a Parachute Adams at that time, often taking upwards of 20 trout on it in a couple hours of late evening fishing."

I have also said that there are cripples as in any hatching situation - mayflies, caddisflies, even stoneflies. My original point though is that in most cases, the caddisfly does not behave like the mayfly - drifting along until the wings dry. Instead, they leave the water almost immediately upon emergence - unless their emergence was ill-fated.
That is why so many suggest using emergING patterns rather than adult patterns for the hatch.

I wonder if there might be some who are confused by the "reverse hatch" of the female caddis? As Charles Meck reported in his book "Meeting and Fishing the Hatches" in 1977 (over 30 years ago!):

Talking about the Yellowstone River: "One evening in early July on the Yellowstone River, just below Corwin Springs, I noted only three mayflies emerge. During that same six-hour episode I saw thousands of downwings perform their egglaying flight."


I asked Blue Ribbon Flies about the tricoptera emergence and got this from Bucky McCormick this morning:

"While the majority of caddis do escape very rapidly, there are always a few cripples that will be stuck in the film. Trout love an easy meal and this is why we believe flies like the x-caddis or iris caddis work so well. As far as spent caddis go the females are certainly the most predominant sex to land on the water spent, but there are the males that die over the water too. Keep in mind that weather will also play a big part in how the insects emerge. A cooler, wetter (this can be just cloud cover) day makes it much more difficult for the insects wings to dry and will keep them on the water much longer. There are also times the adults can be blown in the river or fly a little to close and end up on the river this way too. If you have spent much time in Montana, you know what the wind can do. This is why an elk hair caddis is still such an effective pattern. I'm sure there is a multitude of other variables I haven't even thought of."

Anyway, we all will believe what we want and that's the bottom line. I will take my chances with the spent caddis and a caddis emerger as opposed to using an adult floating imitation.

4:07 AM.

[flybugpa]

That is probably the entire key, the word you got from Bucky, both those flies sit in the film, as they would be if they were stuck, which would NOT be the case if they were hackled flies.Coincidently the ones i fish here are stacked cdc and also sit in the film.Makes sense.

[Byron haugh]

Haven't located my copy of "Caddisflies" by LaFontaine, but did find my copy of "Dry Fly - New Angles". In it, he discusses the Elk Hair Caddis - the staple of many fly fishers relative to the caddis:

"The Elk Hair Caddis is valuable as a general searching pattern, but as local tyers adapt it to specific insects it will serve also as an imitation in more and more situations (MAINLY FOR EGG-LAYING ADULTS.)" Emphasis added by myself.

[NJTroutbum]

Locally, this has been my answer to those "splashy rises".

The RSC

Ralphs Splashy Caddis.jpg

For Recipe and history click the link.

http://home.comcast.net/~rlonghunter...blog/view/128/

[Byron haugh]

From the website of Park's Fly Shop on the banks (near banks) of the Yellowstone River in Gardiner, Montana:

"The most important things to remember about caddis emergences in general are: 1. they usually happen in the afternoon or evening, 2. caddis emerge more energetically than most mayflies, so rises are usually more violent, and 3. emergers and cripples are usually as good or better a bet than adult patterns."

Not sure why, but I was hoping those who have their copy of "Caddisflies" would post this info. I found it in an article by Craig Mathews and John juracek discussing the points in LaFontaine's book"

"In his wonderful book “Caddisflies”, Gary LaFontaine notes three signs that indicate when caddis are emerging. First, trout are seen leaping in the air. He maintained this happens when trout chase emerging caddis pupae and the trout’s momentum carries it out of the water.Secondly, there are no caddis on the water. Even during a heavy emergence adults are nearly impossible to see on the surface. Caddis usually emerge and fly off unnoticed."

Thanks to all