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Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 12:53 AM
Peter Charles
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

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.

Can't wait to do a Rhyachophillia for the Rapid. ))


http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharles/caddis-diver.jpg

In this picture, the wing edges are straight across but I V'ed them
when I fished it.

Hook: Kamasan B175 or Mustad 3906
Thread: 8/0 Uni-thread tan
Rib: Fine Gold Wire
Body: Light tan rabbit
Hackle: Gray Hungarian Partridge
Wing: Light Gray Turkey Quill





Peter

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  #2  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 03:25 AM
Peter Charles
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

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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  #3  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 03:25 AM
Peter Charles
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

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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Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html
  #4  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 07:13 AM
Mu Young Lee
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

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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  #5  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 07:13 AM
Mu Young Lee
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

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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\ Mu Young Lee
remove all dashes and underscores in reply address
  #6  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 07:36 AM
rw
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

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

--
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  #7  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 07:36 AM
rw
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

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

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.
  #8  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 01:27 PM
Peter Charles
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

On Mon, 02 Aug 2004 00:36:08 -0600, rw
wrote:

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



Funny, I don't think of nymphing as being much of a searching method.
Nymphing is usually confined to seams, runs, and the deeper slots,
though of course, it can be used almost anywhere. It's usually
applied to features where the fish are concentrated. Swinging wets
and streamers explores the margins, the shallows plus it covers way
more water. Fish are also more likely to move to the swung fly.

Yesterday, I could swing the fly a dozen times through the head of a
riffle and get nothing, then a few feet further and I'd be swining
through a fish holding area and hit after hit. There probably was a
slight depression in that area and the fish were holding in it, yet it
wasn't apparent just by looking at the riffle and I'm sure most
nymphers would have walked right by it as it was totally unremarkable.

Peter

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  #9  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 01:27 PM
Peter Charles
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

On Mon, 02 Aug 2004 00:36:08 -0600, rw
wrote:

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



Funny, I don't think of nymphing as being much of a searching method.
Nymphing is usually confined to seams, runs, and the deeper slots,
though of course, it can be used almost anywhere. It's usually
applied to features where the fish are concentrated. Swinging wets
and streamers explores the margins, the shallows plus it covers way
more water. Fish are also more likely to move to the swung fly.

Yesterday, I could swing the fly a dozen times through the head of a
riffle and get nothing, then a few feet further and I'd be swining
through a fish holding area and hit after hit. There probably was a
slight depression in that area and the fish were holding in it, yet it
wasn't apparent just by looking at the riffle and I'm sure most
nymphers would have walked right by it as it was totally unremarkable.

Peter

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Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html
  #10  
Old August 2nd, 2004, 01:32 PM
Peter Charles
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Default Caddis searching pattern - from failure to success

On Mon, 2 Aug 2004 02:13:43 -0400, Mu Young Lee
wrote:

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

I think you have to get to know the caddis in your river. If you have
diving egg-layers and emergers that move laterally as well as up, then
your odds are better.

I like caddis because they tend to come off in these long, sporadic
hatches rather than in the one, 20 minute blizzard common to mayflies.
There's always some caddis action going on, even if it's only a few
egg layers. Yesterday, there's hardly a caddis to be seen yet the
continual yet sporadic, egg-laying action keeps the trout interested.
I've never had a day quite like it before.

As far as the swing goes with this pattern, the first third dead
drifted didn't produce a single hit. The middle third where tension
comes on then fly and it accelerates towards the middle of the creek
produced about 40% of the hits and the last third, where the fly was
slowing down, produced the bulk.

Peter

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