Caddidflies

[dean_mt]

I'd love to see some of your patterns, if you have pictures post them on the "what have been tying today" thread, which is an excellent running thread with piles of fly photos. Or start a caddis fly picture thread.

Anyway, welcome and thanks for the post. I agree yet for some reason still tend to tie on a PT or Hare's Ear nymph if I am prospecting underwater. That is going to change this season!

[alexs]

Dean,

I don't have pretty patterns. I am of the belief that fly pattern is only 10% of the game, 90% is skill (I am not that "skillful", but I am working on it). If I need more than 6-7 minutes to tie a bug, it is too complicated. I will try to simplify it. I don't always succeed: I have a few flies that I need more than 10 minutes to tie, but I don't want to be on the water without them. I am not very fast at tying. I am only tying for about a year because I couldn't find flies the way I wanted them and I was breaking off too many while Euronymphing (and with $2 a pop it became expensive).
Complicated patterns are for catching fishermen, other ways all the professional guides would be tying them. But they don't!
I mostly fish variations of PT, HE, biot bodied flies, and a few synthetics. Somewhere on the fly I will incorporate a bit of sparcle (antron, SLF, UV ice dub,etc) and movement (CDC is wonderful for this).
I make sure though that I am fishing them in the nastiest places I can find (besides the obvious trout holding spots).

Alex

[silvertip8k]

I have been tying up some caddis and sedge bugs lately...these are patterns I have used for sevaral years...one is pretty common...and some are special ones I came up with myself...

I personally feel the right fly can make a big difference...flies dont have to be hard to tie either...I am an intermediate tyer myself...but I love tying my own an catching fish with them...

here are my caddis imitation flys I use for tout...I think seeing the caddis profile is important in clear shadow waters...sedge or caddis are one on my most favorite dry fly patterns ..the other being may flys...both are pretty common where I fish...the big caddis flys are around from may til september...


my "pocketwater" sedge..sort of a mix of a few of the patterns I make...





this is my darker fur bug using Mule Deer fur


my basic Elk /Pronghorn tie...buffalo wool dubbing & brown rooster hackle...


these two pics are one I tie for real still water situations...I use a piece of gray foam in beween the wing/body feather to help with floatation...its not so durable, but has ccounted for some weary big trout...I used some moose mane for the antennae...

[silvertip8k]

here are a few more pics...sun finally came out today...

these are my basic caddis/sedge patterns I fish ...

[silvertip8k]

I have been doing a lot of study on what differnt caddis fly imitations look like to the desired quarry...seems like the hair wing types are a better choice for the sunnier days..and the more solid styles for the cloudier or in the sadows...

when the originators of the "Goddard and Hornberg" patterns, first tied them up I think they were on to something... both these patterns have a shadow, and contact point signature...something I have tried to copy wth some of my new caddis ties I have been making...

here are two more pics of some sunny day caddis...the lower pic shows the shadow well...you can see the feather body is what is projecting the dominant sadow , visble beow..and not the hair wing contact points...

just an observation...but I am going to see how this imprves my catches on differnt sun type days...and bugs with both contact point and shadow taken into consideration...

[pszy22]

I spend about 80% of my time on the water fishing caddis imitations. I like to fish my fly mostly dry/damp. The best bit of advice I can pass along, fish your fly with an active presentation. Swing it, skip it, skate it, twitch it. You very rarely see a caddis fly doing a dead drift, they are very active on the water.
Don't worry to much about a specific pattern, but do vary your presentation if you aren't catching fish, sometimes even if you are. Since caddis are very active, the fish do not have the luxury of being able to closely study the fly, if they wait a second, it's gone.

[silvertip8k]

I agree 110%...the switch of a rod tip is very important with these patterns...especially in seams or pockets where they get real visibility...

what colors do you fish??do you think it really matters??

[pszy22]

Ted,

I personally don't think color makes too much difference. At least on my waters, there is never really a blanket hatch of any one species. Rather there are a mixture of several different species at any particular time.

Also I fish fairly fast waters, and I'm actively moving my fly as well, so the fish never really get a good long look at it. I personal want my fly to act as something alive, rather than only relying on the fly to fool the fish by looking exactly like the bug.

With that said, I fish mostly light olive or tan colored bugs. However when the mood strikes, I'll fish a fairly bright yellow which seems to work just as well as all the other colors.

I most fish a size 14 fly, sometimes going up to to size 12, very rarely going down to a size 16.

[socorrofly]

Hello all,

From my experience color doesn't seem to make too much difference. Where I fish there is never really a hatch of one species. Usually a mix of different species in any one moment.

I fish a size 14 - 18 fly, sometimes going up to size 10. Try to keep my rod tip up with a high visibility sighter and impart some action when needed. To see what the fish see can spark some creativity. The first time it's a happy accident. Afterwards it's become a part of your repertoire.

Cheers,
Gary

[pszy22]

Gary,

I strongly agree with what you said regarding imparting action to your fly when trying to imitate caddis flies. I tend to view my fly as a puppet, I want to impart a variety of types of movements to it, trying to make it act like a natural as much as possible.

If I'm not catching fish, I very rarely change fly patterns, but I will constantly try different presentations until I find something that works.