Fishing Flies. Smalley
hare’s fur and a thick black rib.
FEATHER-BODIED CASED CADDIS
Hook: Nymph or long shank, sizes 8–14.
Thread: Black.
Case: Take several large coarse hackles (e.g. mallard, grouse, grey partridge, upper wing coverts). Tie one in by its tip at the end of the hook shank and palmer it forward in touching turns; tie it off when almost run out. Then tie in and palmer a second, and so on until the length of the case is correct. After ribbing, trim back the feather fibres to give a case that resembles a mass of tiny bits of twig.
Rib: Fine gold wire.
Thorax: A tiny amount of cream dubbing or wool at front of case.
Legs: 2 turns of hen furnace hackle.
Head: Black thread or black split shot.
A caddis to use in well-wooded streams and lakes, or where there is plenty of detritus on the bottom.
HERL-BODIED CASED CADDIS
Hook: Nymph or long shank, sizes 8–14.
Thread: Black.
Case: Wound herl (see here); if using goose quill or pheasant tail, about five or six fibres will be needed.
Rib: Fine gold wire.
Thorax: A tiny amount of cream dubbing or wool at front of case.
Legs: 2 turns of brown or black hen hackle.
Head: Black thread or black split shot.
NOTE: Use dyed green goose herl to imitate a case constructed from the leaves or stems of water weeds, brown or grey goose to simulate a case made from silt, cock pheasant tail to match a case made from sand. If fishing crystal clear limestone rivers (such as Slovenia’s Soca) a case made from white goose quill matches the white limestone sand cases of the local caddis.
PHRYGANEA CASED CADDIS
Hook: Nymph or long shank, sizes 8–14.
Thread: Black.
Case: Bright green herls (e.g. goose, swan), tied in by their tips at end of hook shank, then brought forward and tied in at the front of the hook shank, so that the herls run parallel to the hook shank.
Rib: Black thread.
Thorax: A tiny amount of cream dubbing or wool at front of case.
Legs: 2 turns furnace or natural red (brown) hen.
Head: Black thread or black split shot.
Caddis in the Family Phryganidae live mostly in weedy lakes and make beautifully crafted cases from sections of green waterweed, formed in a spiral arrangement. This pattern imitates those cases.
The next caddis imitation is tied back-to-front, in that the head of the insect is at the end of the hook shank. By fixing the shot in place on top of the hook shank, the fly tends to fish upside-down, with hook point uppermost. This reduces the chance of the fly snagging on the bottom.
PEEPING CADDIS
Hook: Nymph, sizes 12–14.
Thread: Light brown.
Peeping head/thorax: Fluorescent green floss.
Legs: Brown speckled partridge.
Body: Hare’s ear and mask fur, mixed well.
Weight: A split shot (BB) fixed to fine mono which is then tied to the top of the hook shank, just behind the eye.
In the 1980s Roman Moser produced a video made on his native Austrian River Traun, New Ways of Fishing the Caddis, in which he introduced many new imitations of every stage of the caddis life cycle. Many materials used were synthetic and some (e.g. ‘Body Gills’) are now not too easy to obtain. Nevertheless, he has made a major contribution to the imitation of caddis.
CASED CADDIS (ROMAN MOSER)
Hook: Wet fly, sizes 10–12.
Thread: Brown.
Abdomen: Light brown fine synthetic dubbing and brown deer hair mixed. After dubbing and winding down the shank, the hair/fur is clipped to give a caddis case shape.
Thorax: A little light yellow deer hair, dubbed, wound and trimmed.
Hackle: Sparse, black henny-cock.
DEER HAIR CASED CADDIS
Hook: Nymph, sizes 8–12.
Thread: Black or brown.
Body: Roughly chopped and dubbed brown deer hair, suggesting a case of bits of fine twig and detritus.
Rib: Yellow thread.
Thorax: A little yellow fur to suggest a ‘peeping’ caddis.
Hackle: Black hen.
This is a modification of Paul Young’s STRAWMAN CADDIS.
The following are New Zealand patterns and feature in Keith Draper’s Trout Flies in New Zealand. The first is a splendid fly for rivers and lakes throughout the world.
HORN CADDIS
Hook: Nymph, sizes 10–14.
Thread: Black.
Body: Grey darning wool.
Rib: Fine silver wire.
Thorax: White wool.
Legs: Few grizzle hackle fibres.
BRAGG’S CADDIS LARVA
Hook: Curved grub/sedge, sizes 12–14.
Thread: Yellow.
Body: Golden-yellow floss.
Rib: Fluorescent