Caddis Pupa

[delfam]

Just wondering what everyone uses to imitate the caddis pupa. The Lafontaine Sparkle Pupa seems to be the best but I was wondering if soft hackle has an advantage over the sparkle pupa.

 

[Fishidiot]

I like soft hackles for caddis pupae. You can use just about anything for body material, I usually just stick with green or tan fur. Hungarian partridge makes the best soft hackle IMO but there are a lot of good substitutes. Pick the dubbing out and make the fly buggy - the Gary L sparkle pupae is so effective I think due to the halo affect created by the translucent body.

 

[joereese]

soft hackle pupae imitates the pupal stage, drowned stage and even cripple stage. Very versite.

The bubble versions (Lafontaine sparkle) are over rated IMO, at least in Central PA, and tend to be tied unrealistically round/fat. I prefer to tie more of a light "shroud" of antron, just a bit thicker than the body if I want to give the illusion of the gas filled pupa

 

[delfam]

what wets do you prefer then over the sparkle?

 

[joereese]

delfame,
A soft hackle. Here's a pic of a size 16. This is the fly "off the bench". if I want to specifically fish pupae, I pull some dubbing out between the ribbing stream side.
I fish it deep with a weighted nymph, in the film or greased on the surface. When fishing greased on the surface, I clip the hackle on the bottom of the fly stream side and grease the top hackle only. Heck, I've never done it, but it could be converted to the larva by trimming the hackle off.
I build up an obvious head with the brown thead, wrapped over the area where the hackle stem was wrapped. This binds down the fibers with thread to make it more durable and allows the hackle to "hug" the body rather than flare outwards.
this version is tied with mottled hen, but for others I use dark partridge- never light partridge. Grouse is another alternative.
In this version I tied a few 3-4 strands of antron like an underwing, extending past the hook bend.
pretty simple, easy to tie and very effective

oh two more details. I pulled the hackle aside a bit so that the body is more visible for the picture. They tend to have a near equal distribution of hackle fibers around the body. It is ribbed with gold wire, the pic doesn't show that well

 

[midnightangler]

i'm very much on board with the soft-hackle. it is the most versatile fly in my box for any caddis hatch. I'd also add that in addition to imitating insects subsurface (as noted by joereese), you can also put some gink on it and fish it as a dry fly - it is deadly.

 

[ryguyfi]

Fish those wets on the swing. Just hold your rod out and let it stay tight on the end of your line. Don't be afraid to hold it there a good 20 seconds so it skitters on top of the water before starting your next drift too. That can get some pretty nice strikes at times. You can tie them unweighted or put a small bead head on, depending on the depth you want to fish, or how fast the current is. Lots of choices with wets (I'm learning to like them more and more every year).


Ryan

 

[joereese]

one other thing. It is a very inexpensive fly to make. Making it even better.

My experience is that the bead head varieties don't work as well and the bead restricts it use.
The reduced effectiveness by adding a bead may, however, be due to my inability to figure out the proper proportions of the fly and the tendency of the hackle to flare out from the body too much when I tie the beaded version.
If anyone has any tips about how to make my beaded versions better, I'd appreciate it.
PS I tried the "fur collar" between the bead and body, but this is partially what disturbs the proper proportion.

 

[MKern]

I use....well...the fly that's on the home page of this site for caddis pupa.

Colors may very and there is very little wasted material (just peacock ends).

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Nice pattern, Matt. You did a great job on the tutorial as well. I like the well thought out design of that fly - I'll be adding a row of them to my caddis box...

 

[ratgunner]

Nice,now I got more Caddis to tie.

 

[delfam]

anybody ever have success with an X-Caddis, it's supposed to represent a a crippled caddis that hasn't successfully come out of the pupal stage.

 

[troutslammer]

muskratnymph fishes a x caddis with great success , i think z lon trailing shuck he told me , not sure though , caddis hatch is by far the most forgiving hatch to fish

 

[muskratnymph1]

That is correct. Easy to tie, great silhouette, and a much better profile IMO than an elk hair. They are basically my only caddis dry anymore.

 

[bam]

x caddis is basically a elk hair with a shuck, minus the hackle. Correct?

 

[bam]

Here's a dry, but I love the ribbing material used here. Would be perfect for a pupa...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiuDfcy53Nc