Caddis Fly Musings

"If  the Mayflies are the aristocracy of the fly-fishers insects, then the Caddisflies are the working class.  The drab, earthy Trichoptera  cannot compete with the colorful Ephemeroptera for sheer majesty, but when it comes to satisfying the appetites of hungry trout it is the caddis that bears most of the load". - Thomas Ames, Jr.

caddis emerger

Let's face it, the caddis fly is the Rodney Dangerfield of trout insects. It gets no respect! That honor goes to mayflies and if you don't believe me just consider this: Flyfishers will swoon at the sight of a Hendrickson or a Quill Gordon or a BWO or a sulphur but when we see a caddis we say "there's a caddis" and not much else. Also consider that we seem to fish these flies as if they were a species of Mayfly which they are not.  Let's look at their behavior and techniques needed to imitate them.

1. First, let's get rid of a certain myth. The great Gary LaFontaine floated the idea that caddis create (or store) gasses under their shucks to rise quickly to the surface. This idea caught on and was pretty much universally accepted EXCEPT for the great Bob Wyatt, the author of What Trout Want, The Educated Trout and other Myths. He searched the planet for gas storing caddisflies. He found none.  He interviewed entomologists in the USA and in Europe.  No dice on gas filled caddis. Maybe LaFontaine discovered a new species was the only response. So, how does the caddis rise to the surface so quickly. Most possible answer = Caddis use their legs to kick to the surface and their legs are longer and stronger than a mayfly. That is why soft hackles work so well especially using the Leisenring  Lift.

But why do the LaFontaine sparkle patterns work so well?  Can you say ATTRACTOR PATTERN?  Nothing in our underwater insect world is that shiny.

The Mystery Hatch

It's the first week of May on either the Millers or the Ware. The flows are perfect and the air temperature is in the 60's. You have been there for two days and every time that you walk by the riverside bushes blizzards of caddis explode into the air BUT you have seen few rising fish and very few caddis riding the surface of the river.  What's going on? Where did those bush dwelling caddis come from?  Well, they did not rise to the surface like a mayfly does but crawled on the stream bottom to the shore where it hatched and then hit the bushes. A main player in New England is the Glossosomatidae family of caddis and I think it's the number one caddis species as far as numbers are concerned. They love fertile freestones but find tailwaters a bit too cool and infertile for them.  

How to fish this hatch

Fish the edges of the river when you see caddis buzzing around the bushes. Use a drab soft hackle or a possum nymph when you do this.  Now, this fly lays it's eggs by diving to the stream bottom and attaching the eggs to stones.  Use the same flies with a Leisenring Lift to mimic that behavior.

What About Dries?

No self respecting trout will refuse a well placed appropriate dry fly but most of my dry fly fishing with a caddis pattern is done in fast, choppy water.  That's because elk and deer hair float forever in choppy water and choppy water is where the trout live in freestone streams. I don't seem to do well with caddis dries in slow moving water. 

Book Me - Been fishing the same old spots on the Swift and the EB? Book me to fish new areas.

More Later!!

Ken