Comprehensive Caddisfly Fly Box

[MathFish]

I’ve been wanting to put together a fly box covering all life cycles of the caddisfly lately. What patterns/colors/sizes would you recommend for the larval, pupal, and adult phases for a dream caddisfly box for PA? Thanks for any and all suggestions.

 

[Dave_W]

Good idea for a fun thread...

For larvae:
I'd suggest some bead head type nymphs with short or no tails on curved hooks; sizes #18, 16 and 14. Tie some with green bodies and some with light brown. Use a black bead and keep 'em slender.

For pupa:
I'd suggest a couple soft hackle wets of traditional style with partridge hackle - again, green and brown bodies. The Lafontaine (sic?) caddis pupa is a proven pattern. I like a caddis pupa tied with a sparse body and long hackle topped off with a dot of foam to keep the fly near or in the surface film. Toss in a couple Leadwing Coachmen for sake of tradition. Same sizes as larvae.

For adults:
Elk hair caddis (same hook sizes) in a variety of colors but tan wing and dark gray wing should be your main effort. A couple other "tighter" patterns with wings of burnt feather will add to the variation.

Good stuff.

 

[JerryC]

Can't argue too much with what Dave has said.

For Larvae: I would add size 12 to the list, and do a mix of curved and straight shank hooks. Black bead head. I tend to tie mine with a soft hackle, usually starling.

For Pupa: Soft hackle is the way to go. Again I would add size 12 to the list. I would use either starling or partridge for the hackle. I like that dot of foam idea. Definitely have to add it to some of my soft hackles.

For adults: Here's where we differ. My go to dry pattern is a CDC and Elk. Which is a misnomer. Hans W always tied it with deer hair.
I think it's an easier pattern to tie. Only uses two materials. I think it gives a better caddis adult profile. I tie mine on the TMC 2488
since it's a 2 XS hook, I use size 16 to size 10. If I'm dealing with a micro caddis I drop down to size 18 or 20 an go with a CDC wing instead of deer hair. Body colors gray, olive and tan would cover most of the hatches. Wings light tan to the dark brown. If you tie a lot of caddis, the best source of deer hair, if you can find one, is a deer's mask.

 

[BoulderWorks]

Stage:

Caddis Larvae
Pupae
Emerging Pupae
Adult Caddis
Spent/Cripple Adult Caddis
Sunken Caddis Adult

Colors:

Dark Gray
Charcoal Black
Peacock
Green
Olive Green
Apple Green
Tan
Brown
Dark Brown
Pale Green and Tan Mix
Tan and Yellow (Cream)
Medium Olive
Black
Dark Tan to Cinnamon

Size:

Match the Insect/Hatch

 

[SteveG]

If you're prepared to delve into them and chase hatches, do yourself a favor and buy Caddisflies, by Ames. There are hatch charts for specific regions of the Eastern US, tons of photos, patterns, and plenty of info about behavior etc of the different genus and species.

I'm slowly integrating closer matches for larvae, pupae, and adults in my boxes, but for the most part I just fish generic larvae, soft hackles, and cdc dries. Most activity/hatches I run into aren't condensed into a short time frame, so I think knowledge of the behavior, and a presentation that is congruent with it, is more important than tying on a perfect match.

 

[Steeltrap]

WOW....To tie all those flies!!

Let's see, 14 colors in 6 patterns = 84 flies. Then.....You gotta have at least 4 in each pattern....so that = 336....then you gotta have hook sizes from 12 to 18...that's 4 sizes for a grand total of 1,344.

And that doesn't count anything smaller than 18 or above 12.

Should be able to knock 'em out in a short afternoon!!

 

[LongLineRelease]

What everyone said above. Adding to it:

Larva: a green rock worm (Rhyacophila) size 10 or 12. A green weenie probably works fine but I the a more realistic pattern out of green gummi body and lively legs

Pupa ( or more accurately pharate adults): have both deep drifting and ascending patterns. Hard to beat the old softhackles and sparkle pupas as mentioned above.

Adults: Carry both rough water/fluttering and smooth water/ resting adults. I like the elk hair Caddis and something with burned feather or tape wings and minimal legs. Also never be without CDC winged adults. They are my bread and butter

A couple that haven’t been mentioned yet.

A spent adult: I don’t run into these often but there’s been a few fantastic times with then. Use a delta wing Caddis or my favorite which is just a cdc wing tied spent.

Diving/egg laying adult: this phase is extremely important. Pick some winged wetfly with lots of sparkle and softhackle/ rubber legs

 

[MathFish]

Thanks for all the replies. I don’t think I’ll come close to the 1344 flies, but I’ll probably get started with putting together this box with these suggestions. I still am having some trouble figuring out how to balance my work from home schedule and my life outside of work. Unfortunately, work seems to be winning out on using up my time...

 

[afishinado]

I would say my "Comprehensive Caddisfly Fly Box" consists mostly of LaFountain Deep Sparkle Pupa and Emergent Sparkle Pupa in various sizes and colors to match the hatch.

https://www.google.com/search?q=emergent+sparkle+pupa+deep+sparkle+pupa&sxsrf=ALeKk02Jhvnrpdn7UWaHlgH0Y1xSnA6ADg:1589555548247&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiv7Lbuk7bpAhXhoHIEHfuSCHIQ_AUoAnoECAwQBA&biw=1280&bih=606

If you tie, it would certainly be worth your time to tie some up.

IMHO, those that do not have success with those patterns tie them incorrectly and/or do use the correct materials.

If tied as Gary LaFountaine describes in his book and with the proper materials (which are hard to find right now) the DSP & ESP work more consistently than any caddis imitation I've ever fished and has for many years.

 

[Tiogadog]

Charlie Craven’s Mugly Caddis

 

[dryflyguy]

I make it fairly simple by fishing only dry flies.

I tie grannoms in #14 and #16.
Tan caddis in #14 and #16 too.
Gray caddis in #16 and #18.
October caddis in Size #12 .

A fifth caddis that I used to fish a lot on the limestone streams - rhyacophilla - seems to have disappeared.
But I still carry them - just in case I come across them again.
It has/had a grayish brown wing, with a dark olive colored body

 

[afishinado]

dryflyguy wrote:
I make it fairly simple by fishing only dry flies.

I tie grannoms in #14 and #16.
Tan caddis in #14 and #16 too.
Gray caddis in #16 and #18.
October caddis in Size #12 .

A fifth caddis that I used to fish a lot on the limestone streams - rhyacophilla - seems to have disappeared.
But I still carry them - just in case I come across them again.
It has/had a grayish brown wing, with a dark olive colored body

Good list above for caddisflies one would likely encounter in PA.

I would add a bright green caddis sometimes called a light grannom caddis in size 14-18, plus it covers other green caddis that hatch in the summer which some call the emerald caddis.

Also most definitely carry flies for the chimara caddis which is black and a size 18.

 

[troutbert]

I recommend making at least half of the flies in your box this:

Tan caddis, size 16.

Those are very common, very widely distributed.

And even if you aren't seeing a hatch of them, that fly will often catch the trout.

 

[dryflyguy]

Yes. Tan caddis is kinda like the adams of mayflies.
Just a good all around pattern.

I've kinda forgotten about the chimara caddis.
The only place I used to encounter it, was in early spring fishing on Kettle creek.
And since I rarely fish up there anymore, I just haven't been seeing it lately.
If I did though, I think my #18 gray caddis would work OK

 

[vcregular]

Nice topic.

X-Caddis is a great pattern. Can't argue with anything else that has been mentione.d