A minor moment of fly fishing revelation

[outsider]

I was fishing my favorite local stream the other day when I snagged a small branch. On it was a cadis fly in transition from pupae to adult. This specie happens to have a dark dun wing and a bright apple green body. The wings were fully formed, and the body was so robust. No, it was fat. Although I do quite well with my caddis imitations, it made me rethink the diameter of the body. Anyone else have similar observations?

 

[JerryC]

I learned a lesson early in my tying career. I was trying to imitate the Little Black Caddis that was hatching on Ridley Creek. I had the Orvis Stream Side Guide for the NE. The recommended fly was a size 16 Elk hair caddis.. I tied some up and went back to Ridley . No luck. I laid my down on the rock I was sitting on and watched some LBC next. The fly was gigantic compared to the actual insect. Gathered a couple of samples took them home. Looked at them under a magnifying glass, even measured them. The entire length of the actual insect was 7 mm, which the Orvis guide stated was the length of a size 16 standard dry fly hook. So the insect was a size 16, just shouldn't have been tied on a size 16 hook.
I've noticed the same thing with the caddis body it's a lot more robust than many patterns suggest it should be and the body length is roughly 40% of the total length of the fly. I switched over to tying my CDC and Elks on the Tiemco 2488 so I could get a better profile. I think body color also has some impact. I've more than once have run into a caddis hatch and what I saw were light tan caddis on the water and tied on a fly with light tan wings and body only to have fish ignore my fly, and when one of the caddis landed on me it turned out to have a dark dun body. Or if you had approached your local stream and saw dark dun caddis on the water what color fly would you have tied on and what color would the body have been?

 

[lestrout]

Yo Jer

One rule of thumb I use with caddis, if I don't first catch one for inspection, is to tie my imitation a couple of shades darker than what I see flying around. The wings backlighted look lighter than they are, especially when the wings are at rest.

 

[outsider]

I guess what really stood out to me is the fly was on a submerged stick I reeled in, and the wings were fully extended. But the body was the pupa body. I surmise it was escaping the shuck and got stuck, as it was dead when I found it. I've examined dozens of that adult caddis specie, and the bodies were not as robust.

 

[DaveS]

I agree with Lestrouts recommendation. And I think one of the most important things in Fly Fishing, is to be able to make good observations about the bugs, the fish, and the rise form.

Things are not always quite what they may first appear. Backlight wings, light colored fly against a dark or shade bank, or the little drab bug that almost completely dissapears on the water. And finally fish bulging just beneath the surface, can eat up lots of tippet and fly changes.

 

[outsider]

I have found that many caddis look tan when airborne. In fact the wings are dun color.

 

[SteveG]

Outsider, many caddis also undergo a color change during the transition from pharate adult (pupa with the exuvia still covering it) and the fully hatched adult flying about.

For anyone with an interest in caddisflies, and specifically Eastern ones, I highly recommend the book Caddisflies by Thomas Ames Jr. There is a ton of info in it.

 

[outsider]

SteveG, thanks for the info. Perhaps I did not express my thoughts clearly. The most pronounced thing I saw that day was how fat the body of the caddis was. The adults have a much slimmer body. If this does not clarify my thoughts, please let me know.

 

[afishinado]

Interesting subject.

Caddis is their pupal stage are more robust, since they are ready to hatch and the adult is encased in the shuck.

In addition to the thickness of the body, the adult is often more drab in color when compared to the pupa.

Pics the pupa and adult of the same species of caddisfly from Troutnut:

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

FWIW and a bit of an exaggeration of course,
I remember a green apple caddis hatch on Pine that was epic. While the shear numbers were something to behold what also struck me about the emergence is it looked like they had a "6 ball" attached to their underneath.
Won't ever forget those fat buggers. If I only had a caddis that day, hence why I carry so dang many now.