View Full Version : Caddis from Down Under
Lots of posts lately about rising fish that won't take dries. I've taken a few on sunken gray elk hair caddis and have had no luck on emergers in the film, soft hackles in the film or coming up. Was wondering how a lead wing would do. It's gray, has no tail and is desinged to fish wet.
Loren
Loren,
Sounds like it might work, I'd definitely give it a try.
Loren,
Lately I have been seeing trout taking emergers alot. These fish are not after the adult fly and will not take a dry. The easy clue is when you see the fishing coming completely out of the water as they chase the emerger towards the surface. When I see this activity I tie on an appropriate emerger pattern, for caddis I use a sparkle caddis emerger, as a dropper below a bead head attractor pattern and fish down stream. Cast down and across the current flow with the line sweeping the emerger towards the surface as the naturals are doing. Let the flyline straighten out for a few seconds before making another cast.
You will have many missed strikes some days as you are pulling the fly from the trout's mouth if you set the hook to soon.
RoyC
Roy C
Thanks. Sounds right. Do you have a site giving the pattern for a sparkle caddis emerger or can you describe it so I can tie it?
Loren
The key to sparkle-pupa and sparkle-emergers is the sparkle yarn (one trademark is "Antron"). Get that in the body color you want, tie it in near the tail, fluff/puff it out and loop it forward so it makes a sort of bubble all around the hook and tie it up near the eye. For sparkle-pupa you want lead under that to make it sink well. On the emerger add a deer/elk hair "wing" sort of like an EHC wing.
The basic idea with the sparkle yarn is to both get the sparkle and catch some air bubbles in the puffed up and looped yarn. They're Gary LaFontaine patterns, diver-tested.
Fish the emerger in or near the film, sink the pupa and "lift" it up. Those fish crashing up through the surface are generally chasing pupa which become emergers for an instant in the film, then blast off. Sunk emergers lifted work equally as well as pupa if fish that style with some weight to get them down.
All this said, I was catching them with EHC on top on Sunday afternoon just fine when I found one rising. Took four decent browns one after another in a side-riffle where I finally found a decent caddis hatch at IF. The drift had to be dragless. Sometimes they want drag with caddis, sometimes they don't.
Roy
Thanks for the detailed info. The caddis I see at Jones Bridge are slate gray. I'm color blind (but see gray reeeel well). I have no idea what the body color is or what colors would work on emergers. I assume the deer hair should be gray. What would you recommend for the antron?
Loren
Loren
The bodies of the grey caddis are black and grey. I tie a black body caddis emerger and adult to represent this fly.
Adult:
Body black biot
hackle grizzly
wing tan or grey elk hair
Emeger:
body black biot
dark olive z-lon over body to form the air bubble image
wing grey z-lon
legs partridge
head single strand of black marabou twisted arround tying theard
Best of luck
RoyC
Loren et al.,
I do really well with the emerger imitation with ehc fished down steam under or in the film. I start by "skating" the dry then working it under water, depending on which retrieve or depth of presentation is most productive. Now, I do have a couple of honey holes where this method is very effective and it isn't 100% fool-proof--Dan thinks they are easy fish--but they are not all stockers. Here's a key, that I have pieced together---remember it might only work for me and my comfort level with the ehc---find a "shoaly" area and then fish the deeper slower water below using the method I described above--Works for me.
Loren I see you continually posting that the soft hackles aren't doing great for you---Dan and I are doing fine with them. I'm taking guy fishing for his first time (on big water) friday, but you are welcome to join us at IF.
Let me know.
Rod
Rod
I will be there to I drive a green wrangler and will probably be there from 10-1. I would like to meet the king of IF. I will be wearing green hat and tan waders.
briggs
Briggs,
Unfortunately, I'll not be there until after 4--work sucks. Dan will prob be there--he's there now if I know the lucky SOB. He looks like Shakespeare--goat tee and all.
Rod
Rod,
Thanks for the invite, but I can't make Friday. A trip with you would do wonders for my fly fishing, I'm sure.
May all your hackles be soft -
Loren
The Ole Man
04-15-99, 12:29 AM
Loren:
Fished Jones Bridge today with Caster. Fished from 3 to 7:30. Wind was bad. Ruffled the water so you could'nt see a dry or where you were stepping. Waded only -no float. Wind settled some late. Saw caddis hatches coming off all afternoon-grew thick when wind settled and was later-about six. Three diff. colors: gray, tan & black. Grays were on large size , tans were 2 sizes : 1 large and one smaller, blacks were smaller. Fish rising everywhere-all jumping out of the water. Almost no takes in the film. Took one bow early -in the wind- using green gl****caddis # 16. Fished a number of drys in various colors and sizes 16-20. Drowned some and fished them under. No interest. Saw one guy take a fish on a dry. Was a home tied size 18. A dirty yellow olive dub body palmered griffith gnat style with a very bright light blue dun hackle. Your slates are still on the rise. Guess the blue dun looks to gray side - but I thought it was almost a silver doctor blue. Had a number of slates land on me and they are about 3/8 long.
Ole Man
Good information! Thanks.
I guess with all that hatching going on and the wind being what it was, you didn't have to eat supper when you got home.
Loren
The Ole Man
04-15-99, 10:03 AM
Loren:
My old dogs were pretty tired http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif. Been reading the info here about fish chasing emergers to the top. Appeared to me that a take which would be impossible to mimic was in effect. Goes like this: The caddis fly along about 6 inches above the water, they suddenly dip down and touch the water for a fraction of a second-presumably to deposit eggs-then take off again. The fish seeing the landing approach, leap out and catch the caddis in mid-air just before touch down. A "pre-emptive landing take". Guess we need a helicopter caddis pattern http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif.
Yep, saw lots of helicopter takes yesterday.
There is a way to emulate it, but I haven't worked on it yet. You need two flies, the tail one a buly or heavy fly to stretch the line, the dropper the caddis imitation. You work with a fairly short line, hang the dropper over the fish's hold, then dap it.
It takes nerves of steel as the take will always be spectacular.
That said, they were taking dead drifts well enough to make yesterday my best this year. Took two fish skating, but didn't try the helicopter system at all. May try it today.
So how about it DanS. Are you going to be down there fri. morning?
briggs
Not sure I'll fish tomorrow. It depends on the weather mostly. I'm tired of fighting gusts. I went today and was sorry I did. Kept getting these 30-40 mph gusts that came close to knocking me back a step a couple times.
Caddis were clinging madly to the streamside bushes with all six legs. When the occasional one got torn loose, if it hit the water near a riffle between gusts a trout would grab it. I did manage to catch two 11" chunky browns, and teased three more into looking over the fly before saying "I'm still stuffed from yesterday." But took me three hours of waiting for one more gust to calm to manage that.
I tried going under but didn't get as much as a tap that way. The trout seemed to want to rise, but the wind was messing with all, caddis, trout and trouter alike.
If I do go it will be early afternoon or later.
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