FLY TYING AND THE CADDIS FLY

The above pattern is of a caddis fly emerger. This would be the stage of life in the caddis fly's emergence cycle where the bug splits out of a case that houses his body. He rapidly ascends from the bottom of the stream and bursts through the surface taking flight almost immediately. At times the little bug becomes caught in the surface tension and struggles there. This struggle can result in an appearance that is less than perfect. At times the shuck that he has just broken out of remains attached to his abdomen and dooms him by drowning him. Trout inhale these little creatures by the millions in all stages of their emergence. Caddis flys are a staple for trout everywhere. This makes them a wonderful insect to try to duplicate at the fly tying bench. Caddis fly hatches can be difficult to fish even when the proper pattern is selected for presentation. But the knowledgable angler who can read the water will be blessed with lots of catches (and hopefully lots of releases) when fishing a caddis fly hatch. If anyone reads this and is curious about the entire life cycle of this insect or any of the mayflies common on our streams may leave a comment on this blog and I will do my best to enlighten. Caddis flies like cold clear streams. There are many sub species of caddis flies and I have noticed three in Tennessee. I have not investigated their emergence behavior very closely as Tennessee does not have a good population of large wild trout in its mountain streams in the area where I reside. North Carolina would be an excellent destination for large Brown Trout which are a thrill to catch and try to fool. The tie method I used on the flies here are Western. The patterns are Western patterns for the most part. May flies are a different breed of insect with a different emergence cycle. They are a beautiful fly and interesting to tie. I use the Catskill method of tying. This method was developed in the Catskill Mountains of New York. A Mr. Walt Deets, a famous fly tyer from the Catskills, used this method exclusively for his flies and has written many tying books. This method is time proven and an old, old way of tying flies. Its just how I learned. Different methods are to fly tying like dialect is to a language. Its all interesting. I may post other fly tying and fly fishing blurb on this blog if folks are interested. Below are some other great Caddis Fly Patterns I use successfully.....