Very simple and VERY effective Caddis Pupa soft hackle

I came up with this simple soft hackle pattern about 25 years ago and it has always been one of my most effective flies!

Really nice. Is that peacock at the head?

nice tie Byron, whats the pattern

Thank you! Yes, peacock hero.

Thank you!
Dry fly hook in size 14
Fine gold ribbing of abdomen
Chopped and fluffed Dazzleaire (in coffee blender) for body and thorax
Legs are partridge feather
Peacock heel for head

Imperative that the thorax is formed with soft wraps to provide a “stopper” for “legs”.

Normally fished as a wet fly in the swing method to imitate a rising pupa. However, when I see a rising fish, I give a couple quick false casts to dry it out and it will lie in the surface film and be taken as a cripple.

I really like the look of that Byron, thanks for sharing and thanks for the recipe!

Cliff

thanks Byron, just added it to my tie list for next spring

Hi Byron,
Thanks for posting the recipe. What color is the Dazzleaire? It looks like a pale peach or pink in the photo, but it is always difficult for me to determine the actual color from photos with differing lighting.
Thanks,
Ted

Thanks. “Peach” is the best description!

Thanks Cliff and John!

Byron,

How deep do you fish this fly?

Most of the caddis pupa patterns I fish, I fish them DEEP.

How do you you think this pattern would fish tied with a black tungsten bead in place of the hurl?

I prefer to tie heavy flies instead of using lead weights.

SCG

Hi. I add no weight. This is an emerging pupa pattern. I usually stand mid stream….cast downstream near the stream bank, and let the fly “swing” in the current as that current takes the fly directly downstream from me. I do the same with the other side of the stream.
The trout basically hook themselves.
If I see a surface rise, a few quick false casts to dry it and I let it float into the rise form as a cripple on the surface……another reason it’s on a light wire hook with no weight.

The emerging Caddis pupa are rising on the way to the surface. This, the casting of it into the slower water near the bank. It will sink a bit and as the current takes it downstream, it will behave like the natural as it will ascend towards the surface. Once it reaches the end of your line, directly below you, it will pulsate as the current moves it around….up and down.

Looks like I need to rethink how I fish a caddis pupa fly. I have fished them like most of my other nymphs, dredging the bottom.

I do have an October caddis that I swing down and across for sea run cutthroat.

Thanks for the tip Byron.

Scg

Thank you!

Just saw this Byron. Nice looking fly but one question-what is dazzlewire? I’ve never heard of it.

Hi, and thank you!

I was watching Gary LaFontaine tie his “sparkle patterns” one evening. I really liked the material he was using. I asked what it was and he replied “It’s an Antrim yarn”.

Well, I’ve es chef great innovators like him up close before. I don’t dnt want to try to replicate Gary’s patterns with any old “Antron yarn”. So I asked if he might be more specific for me. He said “Just go to a Ben Franklin Store and ask for “Dazzleaire”. So I did, and the results were just like his.
I then bought all they had at the store.

Now, I don’t think they carry it anymore, but I have enough for myself. I bought the skeins that have multi-colored variegated strands so I can get just the color I want.
The last time I ran out of it, I found a guy on eBay who sold me a number of skeins.

Long story, short, it is a tri-lobal Antron material. I wanted the same thing Gary was using. Perhaps any such Antron will suffice, but I found Dazzleaire perfect for my purposes.

Hope this helps???

Found this on the Etsy web page:

Thanks Byron. I thought it looked like antron but that name threw me.