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putting together the ultimate caddis box

sunsignarcher

sunsignarcher

New member
I want to dedicate one med. or large fly box to just caddis. I wanna cover all the bases all year round with this box.

What are your must have caddis patterns? colors? size's? How many do you think you need of a given pattern?

My three favorites are:

CDC & Elk
X-caddis
cat gut caddis pupa

Ive had good luck with

Sparkle pupa
Sparkle emergers
Goddard

Things Ive yet to tie or try:

Iris caddis
Caribou caddis
JC's electric caddis
missing link caddis

I'll omit hares ears from this box because they'll be covered extensively in another box.

What else??????????
 
This was my best producing caddis dry last year. Probably will be my go to caddis dry this year. It worked so well on some days it was almost scary. I found that not stacking the wings works better then stacked. I usually pull out the longest caribou fibers out of the bunch. By not stacking the wing kind of gives the fly that caddis wing shape. That dull tan/dun color caribou is a deadly color for caddis wings. I have used different colors for the hackle and bodies all were effective. Tan body ginger hackle, olive body dun hackle, black and black, brown hackle, green body, any combination.

Caribou Caddis
Hook standard fine wire Dry fly 12 -18
Thread same as body color
Body color match color of caddis your are targeting
Hackle Dun or ginger or brown or black
Wing caribou hair see picture

A must have in your box.

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You don't need many caddis patterns, and its more important to have caddis for every stage of their life cycle rather than a million dries/nymphs ect that only cover one level of the water column. Trout that are on caddis in the film (pupa) will most times refuse any pattern that does not sit in the film ,but could care less if the body color is olive/tan ect. The one exception I've seen repeatedly is black caddis, and the fish can be a pain in the ass on those. Lastly, realize that its good to have the same pattern tied in slightly varied ways when it comes to the wing/shuck ect. This is especially true with caddis pupa, since sometimes the fish will take a pupa that essentially serves as a dry fly visually to the fisherman (easier on the eyes), where other times the fish will just have their tails poking out of the water and will only take a pupa that is 1-3'' inches below the surface(time to use a dropper). Here is a breakdown of what I like for each situation.

Caddis Adult(dry)
-cdc caddis (easy tie, visible)
-Elk hair with no hackle--trailing shuck in dark brown and light green for apple caddis

Pupa/Caddis emergers
-lafontaine sparkle pupa (really the only fly you need)
-soft hackles (patterns with palmered cdc and others with palmered hackle)


Caddis Larva (nymphs)
-pretty simple here, just you run of the mile bent emerger hooks in 14-20/ simple tapered body with the dubbing head is fine.
-bead head soft hackles are nice for that inbetween layer of caddis coming off the bottom ,but not quite in the film yet.
 
Tom, you're killing me! :) Nice variation. Here's mine......

<iframe width="500" height="281" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/42620412?portrait=0&color=ffffff" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen=""></iframe> Caribou Caddis from Tightline Productions on Vimeo.

The Iris Caddis is a must have for the emergent stage of many caddis species.

As Fly14 said, you don't need a ton of different patterns. Carry the patterns you like best/have the most confidence in.
 
Iris Caddis
Hen and flash soft hackle
Foam Stimulators
CDC Caddis Emergers
Barrs Graphic Caddis
Poopah caddis, with bead and without
 
Any idea where to get Caribou? I checked with my typical source for this type of thing, Blue Ribbon Flies, but they don't have it.
 
I second the improved X caddis. I tie mine with a Caribou wing like Matt G. and also with a CDC wing in Natural Grey and Natural Tan wings. The tan wing ones are good for the Apple caddis. Most of the ones I tie are tied either on a size 14 TMC 2488 hook which is a short shank hook wide gap or a size 16 diachii 110.

Also be sure to have some stick caddis for when you want to nymph them up.
 
Not knocking any of the choices, but a Fox's Poopah in tan has been good to me. Not sure if a Usual is a caddis pattern, but works well when caddis are about. In the traditional wet field, I've had good luck with a Pass Lake wet fly - a Midwestern fly that doesn't show up often on Eastern streams.

Need some green caddis larvae and there are tons of good patterns. A local NJ favorite is John Collins' wired caddis, but simple dubbed body ones are fine to me. Glass bead ones go in and out of popularity and work OK. Czech style green caddis larvae are another good choice. In late winter/early spring an orange caddis (imitating the chimarra caddis) can be something different, but a green caddis is the staple. Trout do like the orange ones too though. Matt Grobert's is a good one, but a lot of slim, small orange caddis larvae will do too.

You are on the right track - I'm seeing more caddis every year. Most common ones I see are grannoms in April, apple caddis a little later, and size 16 tan caddis through late spring to fall. Little tan caddis are on most of the time and you should have plenty. The little black caddis (adult chimarra) seem to do fine in spring and fall when weather is cold.
 
My two favorites are the Goddard caddis for dry and hotwire caddis for nymph...both of which I'll be submitting for the fly swap so you can add those to your fly box shortly..
 
Your overcomplicating this. Peacock caddis, 12-20. Unless the goal is to tie lots of flies, then mission accomplished.
 
Joe D said:
I'd add Henryville Special & a spent caddis pattern or two.
Click to expand...

When I caught my first trout on a caddis, it was a Henryville......
and correct me if I am wrong.....the missing link us a spent caddis pattern...no?:shrug:
 
sunsignarcher said:
Matt,

Would there be any difference between touch dubbing and a split thread dubbing loop for the Iris and Caribou?
Click to expand...

Yes, I think so. Here's why, and this is from a recent blog post I wrote about this very thing:

.......touch-dubbing is my preferred method. For me, it is easier than splitting the thread, holding it open and then inserting dubbing in the gap. All I do is apply some tacky wax to my thread, apply (touch) the appropriate dubbing on the wax, and then wrap the mess where I want it on the hook. Secondly, the end result creates what to my eye is the perfect buggy appearance - for dries I will use hare's mask as it has lots of guard hairs in it that act to provide surface tension and the appearance of legs. Finally, touch-dubbing with wax creates a semi-waterproof thorax or body, and because the wax repels water, small air bubbles form within the touch-dubbed area when it is submerged. These air bubbles provide buoyancy and also diffuse light, which I think gives the fly "life"

You can read the whole post at: Caddis Chronicles: Split-thread vs.Touch Dubbing

All that said, if you like the split thread method for other patterns, try it on these and see how it works for you. They may need paste floatant though to keep them in the surface film.

Matt
 
lightenup said:
When I caught my first trout on a caddis, it was a Henryville......
and correct me if I am wrong.....the missing link us a spent caddis pattern...no?:shrug:
Click to expand...


You are absolutely correct. The missing link is a spent caddis.

It's my go to caddis pattern and my number 2 searching pattern when I have no clue what's going on. This makes it an important fly since I usually have no clue what's going on.
 
Barleywine said:
You are absolutely correct. The missing link is a spent caddis.

It's my go to caddis pattern and my number 2 searching pattern when I have no clue what's going on. This makes it an important fly since I usually have no clue what's going on.
Click to expand...


Barley.......I looked it up, the call it a cripple, which is different than a spent, but this is just semantics...It most certainly represents both extremely well....I was introduced to this fly last summer, and it is one of the bets dry searching patterns I have used....not too hard to tie either....takes a minute or 10, but well worth it!!!:)
 
Started out Xmas day with the caribou caddis and typed up a long winded post about how much I hated touch dubbing. After hitting the submit button I got a message about something timing out and I lost every thing I posted...turned out to be a good thing.

Thursday was a new day and all the problems I had Xmas day worked themselves out and I ended up with 19 decent flies. 12 #14 tan bodied caribou caddis and 7 #14 iris caddis in olive, brown and nat. hares mask bodies.

Initially I only made a mess with the wax, and my thorax's looked like a pile of twigs lashed on a hook. Everything seemed to want to lay parallel to the shank. I dialed in the wax/dubbing ratio (I think) and used light touches with my left index finger with each wrap to keep the dubbed mess orientated perpendicularish to the shank getting it to behave almost hackle like.

I did a few split thread thorax's and initially loved the way they looked, but after getting a few touch dubbed the right way the split thread flies got shaved and retied.

I'm gonna tie the hell outta these two pattern in all colors and sizes until I cant look at em anymore.
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Finished with the Caribou and Iris. I should be done touch dubbing for awhile.

Including the many redo's and whats in the box I'm sure Ive touch dubbed 100 plus flies. I really hated it at first but slowly fell in love with it. I don't think anything comes close to being as "buggy" as a touch dubbed thorax.

The wax took some playing with though, I ended up using a lighter to heat the wax a bit. Having the right consistency made things much easier. Where I tie isn't the warmest room in the house so that probably won't always be necessary.

On some of the Iris's I combined a dubbing loop hares mask body with the touch dubbed thorax and the combination made for one helluva killer looking fly.

I'm not sure what I'm gonna tie next, probably get the rest of the dries done. CDC n Elk, X-Cadds and Goddard should do it, am I missing any must have caddis dries?

vBulletin
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I use the Loon High Tack dubbing wax and the Hareline Super Sticky is the same. At 60°F, the stuff is as sticky as you need to touch dub. I have to keep it in the fridge in the summer. If you are using regular sticky wax, it doesn't work like the two I listed.
 
Tying the shit outta "CDC n Elk" today.

I fished this for the first time this past fall and I'm pretty confident I could replace everything in this box with this one fly and it would not only do the job but do it better.

Cant say enough good things about this fly and if you haven't seen this thing at work your really missing out.

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Don't forget the Cased Caddis, just be sure to check that you are not infringing on anyones patent protection.
 
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