Semi-Realistic Caddis Dry Fly
New video step-by-step of a fairly simple but realistic Caddis Fly. This is one of my own patterns but it’s basically a variation of the many realistic Stoneflies around from Paul Whillock for example. For the waters I fish and the insects I imitate the short shank #14-16 hook (here Kamasan B160) is a good size. Problem with these smaller flies is the foam usually isn’t enough to float it properly. I’ve started to use CDC dubbing from SWISSCDC and a CDC underwing to make it float better and it works very well. But as with all CDC flies it doesn’t float forever at least if you’re catching a lot of fish so you’ll need a good CDC-floatant and few flies to change to when the hatch is on. If you want to make it float better you can for example replace the legs with a sparsely wound hackle and cut it underneath the hookshank.
You can do the extended body on a needle also but it’s very easy to tie in hand so I suggest you try it if haven’t already. If you’re imitating Mayflies or Stoneflies with tails it’s usually better to do it around a needle.
Since I haven’t been tying/innovating trout flies lately my materials are from the past and I know Nymph Legs and Medallion Sheeting aren’t available at the moment. I’ll try to look for alternatives, but Medallion Sheeting has been hard to beat in color collection, function and durability.
Hook: Short Shanked #14-16
Thread: Sheer 14/0 or similar
Extended Body: 2mm Brown Foam
Legs: Japanese Nymph Legs
Antennae: Nutria Guard Hairs
Body: SWISSCDC CDC Dubbing Dark Brown
Underwing: SWISSCDC Super Select CDC Khaki Campbell
Wing: Medallion Sheeting Mottled Brown
