Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

On Mon, 02 Aug 2004 12:22:12 -0600, Willi wrote:



Glad to hear you're getting out!

I find that it's common to miss fish on a fly fished on the swing or
with any type of action for that matter. I agree that fine wire hooks
will help with hookups.

You might try a simple soft hackle pattern in the same size and colors
ie. no wing, instead. I'm guessing that it would be just as effective
while being easier to tie.


You read my mind -- I'm thinking about the same fly sans wing --
however - - - -

When this fly is held in the current, I get a very natural V shape
wing in the water. I think the wing may say "caddis" more loudly,
when viewed from underneath. We can never know exactly what makes a
trout strike one particular fly over another, though we can usually
make some decent inferences. So . . . I'm loathed to tamper with it
as it appears to work as is.

My brown trout weamer works. Every, and I do mean every modification
I've made to that fly to "improve" it in some way, has reduced its
effectiveness, sometimes to the point of zero. I go back to the
original and good things happen all over again.

Peter

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forgot some things . . .

I'm calling it a searching pattern as I simply swing it through
riffles, looking for fish -- there's not much targeting going on. If
I had wished, after getting hits and no hookups, I could've switched
over to another type fly and hope for better hookup results.

The fly did squat in slow current -- it needed faster water. It even
picked up fish in very fast chutes -- the only decent fish and only
brown was hooked and LDRed in a very fast chute.

The 50 hits is a very conservative estimate -- some fish were whacking
it three and four times. At first I though "chubs" but all but one of
the fish that I hooked up, landed or saw, were rainbows. These are
baby steelies, first, second, and third year fish where the oldest run
8" to 10" -- a lot of fun on a 2/3 wt.

I've had days on Whitemans where I've had a lot of hits but never on
the same fly like this. I'll be trying it on the Grand for browns as
well -- the upstream end of Frustration Flats should give it a
workout.

I think the approach should work for any caddis species where the
females dive to lay eggs then swim back up.

Peter

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On Sun, 1 Aug 2004, Peter Charles wrote:

But oh my, does it get attention on the swing.

I've only had limited success with that. Anyone out there have generic
clues as to where and when this techniques is effective?

Mu

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Peter Charles wrote:

Two years ago, I tried to duplicate the female Hydropsyche caddis egg
layer as she dives down, releases eggs, drifts along, then swims back
up. I tried creating a pattern and fishing it in this down, drift,
and up but I didn't get a sniff. Into the "failure" bin it went.

Well, I'm out today on Whitemans Creek and there's nada happening.
I'm doing the minimalist thing so I have very little in the way of
different flies to try. But I do have the faliure. So I gave it a
"what the hell" and instead of deading drifting, I swing it.
Actually, I'm casting across stream, dead drifting, then swinging.
True to form, the dead drift still scores nada.

But oh my, does it get attention on the swing. The fly is tied on a
heavy wire hook and that proved to be a problem for getting good
hooksets on Whitemans little rainbows so the next batch will be a lead
wrapped light wire but I must've had in excess of 50 hits, about 20
hookups and a dozen or so landed.



Glad to hear you're getting out!

I find that it's common to miss fish on a fly fished on the swing or
with any type of action for that matter. I agree that fine wire hooks
will help with hookups.

You might try a simple soft hackle pattern in the same size and colors
ie. no wing, instead. I'm guessing that it would be just as effective
while being easier to tie.

Willi

The best caddis searching pattern, if I had to pick just one, is a PT nymph.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Spent an hour playing with riffle dinks at Whitemans this evening.

Dries and swung wets 12, nymphs no score.

Peter

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Peter Charles wrote:

Two years ago, I tried to duplicate the female Hydropsyche caddis egg
layer as she dives down, releases eggs, drifts along, then swims back
up. I tried creating a pattern and fishing it in this down, drift,
and up but I didn't get a sniff. Into the "failure" bin it went.

Well, I'm out today on Whitemans Creek and there's nada happening.
I'm doing the minimalist thing so I have very little in the way of
different flies to try. But I do have the faliure. So I gave it a
"what the hell" and instead of deading drifting, I swing it.
Actually, I'm casting across stream, dead drifting, then swinging.
True to form, the dead drift still scores nada.

But oh my, does it get attention on the swing. The fly is tied on a
heavy wire hook and that proved to be a problem for getting good
hooksets on Whitemans little rainbows so the next batch will be a lead
wrapped light wire but I must've had in excess of 50 hits, about 20
hookups and a dozen or so landed.



Glad to hear you're getting out!

I find that it's common to miss fish on a fly fished on the swing or
with any type of action for that matter. I agree that fine wire hooks
will help with hookups.

You might try a simple soft hackle pattern in the same size and colors
ie. no wing, instead. I'm guessing that it would be just as effective
while being easier to tie.

Willi

Spent an hour playing with riffle dinks at Whitemans this evening.

Dries and swung wets 12, nymphs no score.

Peter

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