Most caddis larva recipes that I follow (that call for gills) rely on dubbing guard hairs or a synthetic spiky dubbing or trimmed hackle to represent gills.

I recently came across a hydrosyche larva pattern (by Shane Stalcup) that uses the Potts Weave in which ostrich herl is braided with larva lace to give it almost the look of scud or sowbug. See photo below.

I would tend to think that if your intent is to imitate caddis larva, the ostrich herl is too soft and will clump (I guess that really depends on how long the fibers are with respect to the hook gap) and not do a good job in representing gills.

Does anyone else make gills in this manner or something similar?

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