Stick Caddis

[Tigereye]

As a long time fisher of the Lehigh River I always notice around late April through Mid May what I called stick caddis crawling about the back eddies and shallow pools along the shore of the river. Never paid much mind to the Latin name for them but new it was time to use a grannom fly with a green caddis larvae or partridge/green soft hackle dropper, and the combination has worked well for years during that period and for some time thereafter. Also a large ~size 10 raggedy hares ear caught fish in those same shallows and back eddies. Are fish mistaking the HE for the cased caddis? I think so.

I will plead my ignorance here, but doing some light reading on the subject found out that Rhycophilla (sp??)ie grannom caddis are free living. So those little stick caddis cant be Rhycophilla. I know from past experience that the caddis in those cases are a creamy/grey color about a size 12.
Any one have any thoughts on what they are? Do they turn green during emergence?

A little Biology lesson would be most welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[troutbert]

Probably these:

http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/2623/Caddisfly-Pycnopsyche-Great-Autumn-Brown-Sedges

They hatch in the fall. They are brownish colored, and a large caddis.

 

[crepuscular]

I will plead my ignorance here, but doing some light reading on the subject found out that Rhycophilla (sp??)ie grannom caddis are free living. So those little stick caddis cant be Rhycophilla. I know from past experience that the caddis in those cases are a creamy/grey color about a size 12.
Any one have any thoughts on what they are? Do they turn green during emergence?

A little Biology lesson would be most welcome. Thanks in advance.

Not sure what you are reading but (and this exemplifies the problems with mixing common names and scientific names) Rhyacophila are not typically called Grannoms. The Grannoms are the common name of caddisflies from the genus Brachycentrus (family Brachycentridae) and are not free-living but are part of the portable-case makers (Intergripalpia). The genus Brachycentrus construct cases that are typically four sided and made of plant material or small rock fragments. Rhyacophila are often called Green Sedges and like you pointed out free-living caddisflies. Troutbert is correct that the caddisflies that you are seeing are likely Pycnopsyche (family Limnephilidae) and they do emerge in the fall, however there are several other Limnephilid caddisflies that construct cases using sticks and other plant material (but Pycnopsyche are very common). Pychnopsyche pharate adults and adults are typically a tannish orange to deep orange color. As far as your success with green color incorporated into your caddis patterns, that makes sense because the Rhyacophila and several other caddisfly genera have individual species that are green in the larval, and pharate adult, and adult stages and are also very common the trout probably get used to associating that color with a tasty morsel Hope this helps.

 

[Tigereye]

Helps a lot. Thank you both.