My current iteration of this fly is based on the FEB Hopper ( in the FAOL FOTW archives at 8-10-2009 ) but a bit smaller and slimmer and in lighter colors to better match the October caddis on my home water freestone creek in Northern Idaho. Using a shorter hook, going to a light tan and orange FEB, and slimming down the light tan foam forward body produced the desired effect. Not only that, the first day I fished this latest version, this past week, I hooked it up with and landed an 18-19" bull trout. Getting a bull trout like the one I caught the other day is always a treat - but this one was special. The upper body, back to flanks was the deepest, darkest gray I’ve seen on any bull trout I’ve caught or seen images of, fading to a lighter gray before turning to almost pure white on the belly, with the most vibrant, deep orange spots I’ve seen on any bull trout. Absolutely gorgeous !! What a way to introduce the newest version to my fly fishing experience.
Where’s the photo of the fly?
I was fishing recently on the Clark Fork River in western Montana and I only saw one October Caddis flying. Very strange since they are usually fairly thick and the trout love them.It is a great fly to have in the arsenal.Larry —sagefisher—
… the FEB Hopper in the FOTW archives for a good image and the tying sequence - just a smaller, slimmer fly with appropriate color changes.
On my home water in Northern Idaho, there have been many more October caddis adults flying around this fall compared to the past several years. It has been a pretty steady hatch for several weeks now but will likely turn off soon.
… October caddis flying around today on my home water in Northern Idaho was the FEB October caddis I was fishing. With temps around 36-37F and very cold water from the current cold snap, you’d think that fishing a dry fly would be a silly thing to do. You’d be right - but the eight west slope cutts that welcomed it when it got down on the water with a good drift in about 40 minutes of fishing would have the final say. The fishing slowed down about the time my hands were ready to go find a place to warm up so I moved on. Tried a couple more spots on the way home without any action. For something like 15 years the basic FEB pattern expressed as skwalas, salmonflies, golden stones, hoppers, and October caddis have produced nearly year round on that creek regardless of weather and streamflow conditions.