caddis

[Mike Connor]

You might try these;
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/angling/bugs/caddisfly/caddisfly.phtml

http://www.troutnut.com/naturals/other/index2.php#other_10_1

http://groups.msn.com/TheFlyFishingBug/entomologyandflypatterns.msnw?Page=2

http://www.trichoptera-rp.de/autor/Hydropsyche-CD/hydropsyche-cd.html

http://entweb.clemson.edu/database/trichopt/

http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Trichoptera

http://www.state.ky.us/nrepc/water/cadfly.htm

http://www.earthlife.net/insects/trichopt.html

http://www.bachuntersuchung.de/trichoptera.htm

http://www.famu.org/trichoptera/

http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~dmason/Mckenzie/bugs/pupae.html

http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~dmason/Mckenzie/bugs/caddis.html

http://140.211.62.101/aquaticinsects/caddis.html

Most of the above have photos. Practically all the various larvae of the
various species I have seen look much alike. Although most were removed from
cases. My diving experiences in various streams years ago, also agreed with
Fontaines findings, ( although I had not heard them then). All the books I
have with illustrations or photos give much the same info for the larvae.

Sometimes, imitations of these flies can be absolutely deadly, usually the
appropriately coloured soft hackle is very effective but tied in the
"Yorkshire" style, with curved hackles shrouding the body, and dead drifted!

If you want moving patterns, ( diving females etc etc) then some of the
standard dry fly patterns fished sunk are hard to beat. Soft hackles are not
as effective here.

Usually, the main difficulty is in determining a hatch, or egg-laying, etc,
and what it is! In my experience, it is better to know when to expect a
hatch, and fish accordingly. If you are right, you will have a field day!
If not, back to the drawing board.

I agree with one of the posters who mentioned the old style of winged wets.
Having seen the naturals ascending, and people fishing the imitations, they
can look very similar. Once a fly is soaked however, ( unless tied with
tinsel etc), it becomes less effective, as the hairs on the wing quills no
longer hold air giving a silvery appearance. Some of my patterns were
extremely effective when lightly leaded, and treated with floatant, (
Watershed!, not paste etc). As they remained dry for quite some time. The
"Cinnamon and gold" was particularly effective for this, for a similar
coloured sedge which hatches locally, tied with gold tinsel body with a few
lead wraps under the thorax area, palmered with short light brown hackle,
ribbed with gold ( Brass!) wire, and with down tied wings of cinammon
coloured hen quill. The wings must be treated with a waterproofing agent,
as the fly will only otherwise work well until the wings are soaked. They
will no longer hold air bubbles.

Rather a long time ago now, I wrote quite a series of articles on caddis,
their appearnce, behaviour, and various tactics and patterns. I also had a
fair collection of photos. Although I only had a couple of photos of
ascending larvae, this was very difficult to do at the time. Most of the
photos of larvae were of free swimmers, cased insects, and larvae removed
from their cases. If you want, I can see if I can find them. They must be on
a CD somewhere.

TL
MC

[Mike Connor]

Also, there used to be a product available for rubbing on dubbing etc, which
caused bubbles to adhere to it. I have forgotten the name, but it was very
effective on a whole range of nymphs etc. Perhaps it is still available?

My last small pot seems to have disappeared, and I can not even remember
where I bought it.

TL
MC

[Mike Connor]

The flies depicted here are very similar to the "shrouded" Yorkshire style
I mentioned, and will doubtless be very successful.

http://home.att.net/~jack.castro/Fly-library/caddis-nymphs.htm

TL
MC

[Mike Connor]

These are also good;

http://www.flyflickers.com/ff/gomain.htm?flybox/overton/nymphs/caddis1.htm


My apologies, but my "favourites" files are now so large, and partly out of
date, that they have become almost useless! Often I can find stuff quicker
on Google ( assuming it still exists!) than trying to find it in my files.

TL
MC

[Peter Charles]

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 13:14:00 +0100, "Mike Connor"
> wrote:

>You might try these;
>http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/angling/bugs/caddisfly/caddisfly.phtml
>
>http://www.troutnut.com/naturals/other/index2.php#other_10_1
>
>http://groups.msn.com/TheFlyFishingBug/entomologyandflypatterns.msnw?Page=2
>
>http://www.trichoptera-rp.de/autor/Hydropsyche-CD/hydropsyche-cd.html
>
>http://entweb.clemson.edu/database/trichopt/
>
>http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Trichoptera
>
>http://www.state.ky.us/nrepc/water/cadfly.htm
>
>http://www.earthlife.net/insects/trichopt.html
>
>http://www.bachuntersuchung.de/trichoptera.htm
>
>http://www.famu.org/trichoptera/
>
>http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~dmason/Mckenzie/bugs/pupae.html
>
>http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~dmason/Mckenzie/bugs/caddis.html
>
>http://140.211.62.101/aquaticinsects/caddis.html
>
>Most of the above have photos. Practically all the various larvae of the
>various species I have seen look much alike. Although most were removed from
>cases. My diving experiences in various streams years ago, also agreed with
>Fontaines findings, ( although I had not heard them then). All the books I
>have with illustrations or photos give much the same info for the larvae.
>
>Sometimes, imitations of these flies can be absolutely deadly, usually the
>appropriately coloured soft hackle is very effective but tied in the
>"Yorkshire" style, with curved hackles shrouding the body, and dead drifted!
>
>If you want moving patterns, ( diving females etc etc) then some of the
>standard dry fly patterns fished sunk are hard to beat. Soft hackles are not
>as effective here.
>
>Usually, the main difficulty is in determining a hatch, or egg-laying, etc,
>and what it is! In my experience, it is better to know when to expect a
>hatch, and fish accordingly. If you are right, you will have a field day!
>If not, back to the drawing board.
>
>I agree with one of the posters who mentioned the old style of winged wets.
>Having seen the naturals ascending, and people fishing the imitations, they
>can look very similar. Once a fly is soaked however, ( unless tied with
>tinsel etc), it becomes less effective, as the hairs on the wing quills no
>longer hold air giving a silvery appearance. Some of my patterns were
>extremely effective when lightly leaded, and treated with floatant, (
>Watershed!, not paste etc). As they remained dry for quite some time. The
>"Cinnamon and gold" was particularly effective for this, for a similar
>coloured sedge which hatches locally, tied with gold tinsel body with a few
>lead wraps under the thorax area, palmered with short light brown hackle,
>ribbed with gold ( Brass!) wire, and with down tied wings of cinammon
>coloured hen quill. The wings must be treated with a waterproofing agent,
>as the fly will only otherwise work well until the wings are soaked. They
>will no longer hold air bubbles.
>
>Rather a long time ago now, I wrote quite a series of articles on caddis,
>their appearnce, behaviour, and various tactics and patterns. I also had a
>fair collection of photos. Although I only had a couple of photos of
>ascending larvae, this was very difficult to do at the time. Most of the
>photos of larvae were of free swimmers, cased insects, and larvae removed
>from their cases. If you want, I can see if I can find them. They must be on
>a CD somewhere.
>
>TL
>MC
>


thanks, that's agreat list. I forgot Troutnut.com as I have that one
bookmarked somewhere, plus a couple of these others. Later on today,
I'll devote some hours sorting through them all.

Love those shrouded patterns and I'm working on one now for the
Hydropsyche hatch we get on the Grand in late spring/ early summer. I
like the pattern you described. Also messing around with CDC to
retain bubbles.



Peter

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Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharles/streamers/index.html

[Mike Connor]

"Peter Charles" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 13:14:00 +0100, "Mike Connor"
> > wrote:
<SNIP>
> Love those shrouded patterns and I'm working on one now for the
> Hydropsyche hatch we get on the Grand in late spring/ early summer. I
> like the pattern you described. Also messing around with CDC to
> retain bubbles.
>

Used CDC for a while, but had better success with ostrich herl treated with
watershed for sunk flies. I like the CDC and Elk ( Weilenmann variation see
http://www.danica.com/flytier/index.html ) in various colours for
"skittering" insects, and I also use some "mini sedge buggers" with a CDC
body, and a "muddler" type head. These are quick and easy to tie, robust,
and effective.

One minor annoyance here, is the fact that anglers use all sorts of names
for these flies, irrespective of stages etc. Mostly the scientific sites
give more accurate information. There are a great deal of sites extant on
Trichoptera, but of course they do repeat themselves. Finding photos of
species you require in the larval and ( especially!) pupal stages is likely
to prove difficult. Many sites have good photos of adults, and of course the
artificial patterns are legion.

TL
MC

[Scott Seidman]

Peter Charles > wrote in
:

> Also messing around with CDC to
> retain bubbles.
>
>

Are you in the GFS this year? My contribution is right in that class. It
makes the fly a tad tough to get down, but I've had some real good luck
with this technique. The Pettijean Magic tool makes it a breeze. Of
course, so does a piece of split foam and a bulldog clip.

Scott

[Mike Connor]

>and all spleyed out, so my questin is, how do get it to bend like that?
Aslo, which hooks are the best.


It is quite simple to do really. I use my thumbnail. After you have tied the
hackle in, ( it works with any hackle), grasp the feathers between your
thumb and forefinger, with your thumbnail at the base of the fibres, ( or at
the point from which you wish the fibres to bend), and draw them between
your forefinger, and over your thumbnail. This gives them a pronounced
curve, which will remain that way, even after use. How they curve, and how
much they curve, depends on the pressure you apply with your nail.

If your nails are damaged, then you need some small flat object with a
sharpish edge, ( but not sharp enough to cut) which you use in the same
manner as described for the thumbnail technique.

Many old time Yorkshire dressers used this technique. It gives the flies a
distinct style, and they also fish differently. Most divided the hackle
fibres above and below the hook. This is of course particularly suited to
imitating ascending caddis pupae, but it also works well for other things.
If you check the thread on ROFFT, there are some illustrations of flies at a
URL I gave which use a similar "shrouding" technique, although these look as
if the natural feather curve has been used, and not "assisted", in the
manner described.

There are several such tricks which give flies a very distinctive
appearance, quite unlike most "modern" soft hackles.

My favourite hooks for patterns like these are fine wire straight eyed hooks
"Drennan Carbon Specimen". A search on the net should turn them up. In the
UK they are readily available at various tackle shops ( Coarse fishing
hooks). One may also use some of the straight eyed curved hooks, like this
one;
http://globalflyfisher.com/reviews/gear/partridge/75cover.jpg
to advantage.

I prefer to use fine wire hooks and weight them as required. Heavy wire
hooks have too many disadvantages. Also, only use one turn of hackle. Most
people put too much hackle on these flies. Sparse is the name of the game.
They should look transparent, and this can only be achieved with light
hackling. If necessary tie in two small bunches of fibre. The curving
technique works just as well on these, and you can use up larger feathers,
at the same time reducing bulk at the tie in point.

Hackle length depends on what you are trying to achieve. For most ascending
pupae, I would normally use fibres about one and a half times the hook
length. I like the hook point and bend to be more or less hidden by the
hackle fibres. The "curve" I use is specifically designed to do this.
Practice on a few soft hackles tied to bare hooks first, and you will see
how much pressure you require for the desired effect. For simple thread
bodies, ( although many pupae are quite fat!) I would use an underbody of
tinsel, and at least a touch of dubbing in the appropriate colour. Silk is
better than synthetic threads, as it turns translucent when wet, or treated
with some floatants.

It may seem paradox to treat these flies with floatant, but they wont work
properly without it. It can be difficult to get them to sink properly, which
is why I usually add some lead to the fly. A couple of turns is enough. One
might also use bead heads for this.

Free swimmers are usually slender, and a thread body will work OK for this.
I rather prefer curved hooks for these as well. This is closer to most of
the naturals in appearance, than a straight body.

TL
MC

[Stephen Welsh]

"Mike Connor" > wrote in
:

> It is quite simple to do really. I use my thumbnail. After you have
> tied the hackle in, ( it works with any hackle), grasp the feathers
> between your thumb and forefinger, with your thumbnail at the base of
> the fibres, ( or at the point from which you wish the fibres to bend),
> and draw them between your forefinger, and over your thumbnail. This
> gives them a pronounced curve, which will remain that way, even after
> use. How they curve, and how much they curve, depends on the pressure
> you apply with your nail.
>

Great tip thanks Mike.

Steve

[Scott Seidman]

"Mike Connor" > wrote in
:

> Also, there used to be a product available for rubbing on dubbing etc,
> which caused bubbles to adhere to it. I have forgotten the name, but
> it was very effective on a whole range of nymphs etc. Perhaps it is
> still available?
>
> My last small pot seems to have disappeared, and I can not even
> remember where I bought it.
>
> TL
> MC
>
>

Frog's Fanny

Scott