Czech Nymphs and net spinning caddis

All about flies Fly Tying
1

This weekend I sampled a local stream and got a large number of net spinning caddis. I was struck about much Czech nymphs look like them. The caddis had dark olive backs and a light olive underbody. The gills were underneath, and there was a small feathery looking tail. There was distinct segmentation.

Of course, I recognized them as caddis larvae, but the guy with me pointed out how to tell them from free living caddis.

Czech nymphs are mostly tied on the large side, like size 8 and 10 scud hooks. Of course, there’s no reason why they couldn’t be tied smaller, perhaps modifying the materials a little.

Just wondering whether anyone tied similar flies in smaller sizes and whether you had to modify the materials, and whether you had any hints you might like pass on. Thanks!

2

BFB,

I tie ‘czech’ nymphs in sizes 10 to 18.

Only ‘change’ I make is to cut the back materal thinner and use a thinner mono for the final rib on the littler ones.

Catch lots of fish on these things. The little 18s are especially good in pressured waters.

Good luck!

Buddy

3

You might check this article out:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/advancedff/

4

I think the captions to the pictures of the nymphs in that article may not be quite right. I beleive “Hydropsyche” is a species of caddis and not a Mayfly. “Tricoptera” is the order Caddisflies belong to, not a species. I could be wrong. Maybe one of our resident entomologists could comment.

5

There are lots and lots of families in the Caddisfly Family…

I will list the Common Name of the Caddisfly then the family name, then the size hook the fly is usually tied with.

Black Caddisfly
Bacahycentrus, #16.
Micrasema, #20.
Amiocentrus, #20.
Glossosoma, #20.
Mystacides, #16.
Ceraclea, #14.
Neophylax, #18.

Green Caddisfly
Rhyacophila, #14.
Cheumatapsyche, #18.
Lepidostoma, #16.

Cinnamon Caddisfly
Hydrpsyche, #16.
Ceratopsyche, #16.
Helicopsyche, #20.

Tan Long-Horn Caddisfly
Oecetis, #16.

White Miller Caddisfly
Nectopsyche, #16.

Dark Blue Caddisfly
Psilotreta , #14.

Giant Orange (October) Caddis
Dicosmoecus, #4, #6, #8.

~Parnelli
Know what you know, and what you do not know. Then whether you know or do not know, go look it up in a book, to make sure!

6

I think the net-spinners we sampled may have been hydropsyche. Hydropsyche are net-spinners and I know they are common in this area. I think a 16 would have been about right.

7

I fish hydropsyche nymps a lot, and yes - they are about size 16, though I have successfuly fished them in bigger sizez (14 and even 12).
Regarding tying them - I use lead wire, green dubbing, nylon back, and rib. Sometimes I dont bother putting the nylon back and the fish dont seem to miss it much.
Regarding size - my nymphs are most often in sizes 14 and 16. In my opinion you can fish the czech style even the smallest nymph if you put enough weight on the leader to get your fly to the bottom. At least this is what I do.
Cheers!

ps
Mr. McGarthwaite, thanks a lot for the caddisfly list, it is a really, really helpful piece of information to me… thank you.

8

You are very welcome, here is some more help on the basic fly pattern for each group I mentioned in the above post…

Black Caddisfly
Body: Dark Gray dubbing.
Wing: Black or Gray.

Green Caddisfly
Body: Olive Green dubbing.
Wing: Brown.
Hackle: Brown.

Cinnamon Caddisfly
Body: Cinnamon dubbing.
Wing: Brown.
Hackle: Light Brown.

Tan Long-Horn Caddisfly
Body: Tan and Olive dubbing mixture.
Thorax: Ginger dubbing.
Hackle: Tan.

White Miller Caddisfly
Body: Olive dubbing.
Thorax: Tan dubbing.
Hackle: Ginger.

Dark Blue Caddisfly
Body: Dark Gray or Dark Green dubbing.
Wing: Dark Gray.
Hackle: Dark Gray.

Giant Orange (October) Caddisfly
Body: Orange Dubbing.
Wing: Gray.
Hackle: Rusty Brown.

This information (as well as the previous post) taken from “The Caddisfly Handbook” by Dick Pobst & Carl Richards.