Between the ever prevalent spring monsoon season and the price of gasoline I havn't been making as many trips South as I'd like to recently it seems. So This Friday night I found myself planted at my tying desk filling up empty rows in fly boxes instead of sitting around a campfire along a meandering stream somewhere , which is where I'm wishing I was. I really didn't have much motivation to be honest , lately I havn't been tying like I did through the winter months, too much daylight and other commitments I suppose.
After a quick inspection it was apparent that the caddis section of my nymph box was showing the most signs of use , caddis nymphs work it's as simple as that. Some of my favorite patterns are the simplest , consisting of nothing but a thread or yarn base..a wire rib..and a dubbed thorax. Simple yet effective. After whipping out about 6 each of my simpler patterns I was lacking I decided to try a new pattern I'd seen in a magazine somewhere. I couldn't remember which magazine but I could still picture the fly in my mind , that was close enough to turn out a few of these cased caddis nymphs.
Will they work...I don't know , but I hope to find out before too long if I can save up enough cash for the gas it takes to make it to the nearest trout stream. Maybe I should try and pawn some of my best hackles off on young women as they walk into the beauty salon , kind of like a hackle scalper. I could sell individual feathers for an exorbitant price to help fill up the truck with gas..I wonder if I'd need a permit for that??
All of the flies I tied are very simple and can be figured out from just looking at them , but just in case someones interested I'll put the recipes for 2 of the 4 flies down below.
Here's the recipe for one of my favorite caddis nymphs in green , it can be tied with varying colors of thread base to imitate just about any aquatic insect though.
Hook...Mustad C49S Curved Caddis Hook (sz 14-18)
Body...Chartreuse or lime green floss
Body...Clear Hollow Tubing wrapped over the Floss Base
Thorax..White Egg Yarn
Head...Black Thread
Next , here's the recipe for the cased caddis nymph :
Hook...Long Shank Stonefly Hook (sz 12 -14)
Bead (optional)...Black Tungsten
Thread...Black 6/0
Tail...One turn of Partridge Feather
Abdomen...Caddis Green Vernille / Black Vernille
Front Abdomen...Ice dub and Hares Ear mix
Head...Black Thread
Good Tying.....Jeff
Those are some really nice looking bugs. I wish I had that desk for tying. Thanks for the recipe. I think I will tie it up and try it up hear in Wisconsin creeks. Tight Lines
ReplyDeleteThe cased caddis fly looks good but I know the other pattern CATCHES fish. I've had success with it in the color shown as well as yellow..olive..black..purple , just experiment a little and I think you'll be surprised by the results.
ReplyDelete