Fly of The Week - Week 4 Feb 26 thru March 3 Adult Caddis

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Hi,

How about changing the week to end on Saturday night. That gives the employed fly tiers Sunday to tie and post their versions?

Mine is a dense version of Hans Weilenmann’s CDC/Elk - although both are tied with deer hair and not elk hair as the name implies.

On mine I add an egg sack to the rear of the fly in keeping with all the studies which state that adult caddis flies available to the trout are generally the female as she returns to oviposit her eggs.

Standard dry.fly hook
Butt: ice dub
Remainder of abdomen: single CDC feather
Swept wing: deer hair

2

… an October Caddis, that is.

This is an original. It performed beautifully on the Lochsa and a couple backcountry Montana freestone streams this past fall, from late September through early November. It is the model for a new FEB skwala dry which I expect to fish in the next few weeks, downsized and with the appropriate color changes.

Hook - TMC 2312 size 12
Thread - 6/0 Montana Fly Co orange
Furled Extended Body - two strands orange antron and one strand stone brown antron
Legs - Montana Fly Co speckled orange small centipede legs
Rear wing - natural humpy deer hair
Head and overwing - natural humpy deer hair tied bullethead style

This 17" West slope cutthroat had eaten it on the Lochsa just before the above pic was taken.

John

3

Resting Adult Caddis. (Phillip White)
Thread: Brown UTC 70
Wing: (Tied in first forward fron the eye) Fine deer hair
Body: Tiny tag of Light Brite to imitate the egg sack, Olive Green Beaver Dubbing
Hackle: Red Game wound over thorax and trimmed above and below
Fold the wing over and tie down behind the hackle.

Right off to work despite it being a Sunday.
Cheers,
A.

4

Chuck Stranahan’s Caddis Variant:

Pattern calls for a 2XS hook like a Mustad 94838 (or Tiemco 921) but I was out when I tied these up so I used the Dai Riki; fish didn’t seem to care. That little bit of white calf body hair really helps me spot the fly in failing light when the Hydropsyche hatch heats up on the Madison.

[ul]
[li]Hook: Dai Riki 305 18
[/li][li]Thread: Gudebrod 10/0 Tan
[/li][li]Abdomen: Antron (twisted) Tan
[/li][li]Under Wing: Coastal Deer Hair natural
[/li][li]Over Wing: Calf Body Hair White
[/li][li]Hackle: Barred Variant dyed Tan oversized to 2 gap widths
[/li][/ul]

Regards,
Scott

5

These are two adult Caddis patterns which were developed by Yellowstone area tiers which I have found to be quite useful in the Eastern Sierras…

OLIVE BUTCH CADDIS (Kelly Galloup) -top view

Side view…

From a Trout’s perspective…

HOOK: TMC 900 BL, #14-#18, TMC 101 #16-#18, TMC 100 SPBL. #14-#18

THREAD: Uni., 8/0, 6/0 or GSP 100 or 200, Olive

EGG SAC: Zelon, Green

BODY: Stalcups Micro Fine Dry Fly Dub. BWO Olive

UNDER WING: Zelon, Kinky Light Dun

WING: White Tail Deer Hair

LEGS: Speckled Centipede Legs, Mini-Olive, Montana Fly CO

FLUTTERING WHITE MILLER (Nectopsyche)…Wiese version…side view…developed by Craig Matthews

HOOK: TMC 900BL, #16-#18

THREAD: Gordon Griffith, 14/0, Olive

ABDOMEN: Creamy Golden Olive Dubbing Mix - (My Own)

WING: White Zelon

HACKLE: Dun, Cream or White - I like Grizzly Dun - tied 1x-2x, OVERSIZE

WAKING POST: Two strands of White Zelon (from wings), clipped long-ish

FLUTTERING WHITE MILLER…Wiese…top view

This pattern, again, developed by Matthews, imitates the adult. The waking post adds to the fly’s effectiveness when swung, and skittered.

Both are successful in waters draining out of the above mountains…

PT/TB :wink:

6

PT,

Thanks for posting those flies. Love the Butch Caddis, another great bug for the Hydropsyche hatch & all-around attractor (eastern trout like them, too); would have been my 1st choice since the CDC & Elk was already spoken for but didn’t have any worthy of photographing. I like Wally’s White Miller, too; tied up a bunch for last fall on the Firehole, but by the time I got there the hatch was done.

Regards,
Scott

7

I apologize for the picture. It does not do the fly justice, but wanted to share the concept.

This is my Snowshoe Caddis. I don’t see these anywhere. I’m sure someone is tying them, but have not seen them. I think the Snowshoe Hare makes a great material for a caddis fly.
Thanks,
Byron

8

You don’t see these in shops or catalogs any more but I still carry some and catch a fish on them once in a while just to remind myself that it isn’t all about the latest super fly.

!2 Adams spentwing

9

The evolution of this pattern took a while. But it’s a dandy.

10

Man, that sure is a dandy

11

Yellowstone River Mother’s Day Caddis.

Flat Caddis:

October Elk Hair

Traditional caddis patterns tend to have a down wing (rather than up wing). So far so good. But hackles wound at right angles to the shank miss the flat, low-to-the-water profile of the real bug. I showed this pattern to Gary LaFontaine in Dave Kumlein’s Bozeman MT Troutfitters shop (when it was still in the red barn building) back in 1980. Gary said “Call me. I’ll help you get that pattern published!”

About once a month for a year after that I’d wake up and say to myself “I have to remember to call Dave and get that guy’s phone number.”

12

Korn’s Mother’s Day Caddis …

Timing is everything with this western hatch, but if you are lucky enough to hit it… this is a killer pattern.

Hook: MFC 7022 2x long size 8
Thread: Serafil 200, tan
Rib: tag end of thread
Abdomen: Amber dry fly dubbing with a touch of UV ice dub inserted in a split thread and spun
Palmered hackle: ginger rooster neck, over sized to help float rear of the hook, trim top.
Wing: 2 hen pheasant wing or neck feathers, tied flat
Hackle: ginger rooster saddle

13

Will the “Real” Pittindrigh please stand…

14

If you have the CDC …

… I’ve got the elk.

Had at least forty out back this afternoon. The two very light ones dead center are the two old bulls in the herd.

John

P.S. Sorry, just couldn’t resist.

15

Who? What? There is no such thing.

16

Guess I’m a day late, etc. Anyway, I like Ralph Cutter’s E/C Caddis.

17

The EC Caddis is a great pattern. The caddis I make is similar to the EC. I make it quicker to tie by skipping the body.

If you lash the down wing onto the fly tightly, and then wind the parachute, the hackle wraps will force the down wing to angle upwards, so it’s no longer entirely a “down wing.”

But if you lash the wing clump on loosely (very loosely) and then wind a dozen horizontal thread wraps between body and wing clump, that builds up a bit of a vertical thread post, about which you can now wind the hackle, without forcing the wing to angle upwards. The horizontal wraps tighten things up a bit. A final drop of head cement locks it all together permanently. I like to use CA glue. But you don’t have to.

Ralph and I both invented the parachute caddis independently, at about the same time. In the early 1980s. I only mention that because I have been accused to “stealing” his pattern in the past (more than once). I skip the body because it disappears into the shadow of the caddis’ tent wing anyway.

18

Pittendrigh,
I don’t do the horizontal wraps, I do use a drop of glue on the butts and parachute, though. I found that wrapping loosely to keep the wing from standing up caused the hackle stem to pop up over the butts on occasion, thus the glue. Am I correct in assuming the thread wraps you use under the wing (post) would also need to be somewhat loose?

19

My goal is to end up with a wing as parallel to the water as possible. I’m not sure it really matters. But it’s like a bug in my ear I can’t stand. If it’s supposed to be a down wing that’s what I want.

I make ONE wrap 360 degrees around the wing WITHOUT going under the shank. Then I wrap one more time, with thread going under the shank. I jiggle the thread until the loose loops pull the wing down almost but not quite tight to the shank. Then I make a half a dozen more loose loops over the whole thing. Then I make a dozen or so TIGHT wraps horizontally between the bottom of the wing and the top of the shank. Now I can wind a horizontal parachute without pushing the wing upward.

Ah. It’s important for me not to trim the front ends of the wing until after winding the hackle. That makes the winding much easier. I love this pattern (EC and mine). I’ve caught a zillion fish on them. I tend to get stuck on my own work, as we all do. So I seldom tie the more popular Troth Elk Hair any more. I tie parachute caddis instead. They float like corks. And catcha da fish too.

20

I have a suggestion. If the name of the bug is included in the title of the first post it would come up when that insect is plugged into the search engine.