Caddis Flies

Next to a amiable fishing partner, and perhaps a trusted fly rod, Caddis Flies or Sedge flies may be the trout fly fishers best friends.  Much ado is  made about specific mayfly hatches, and the frenzied activity they cause is anticipated by fish and fly fisher alike.  But a nice long prolific, steady caddis hatch gives one the opportunity to fish whenever the schedule allows.  Most fly fishers recognize an adult caddis fly or imago, yet compared to favorite mayflies they may relatively in the dark about caddis.   Large adult caddis are often mistaken for salmonflies.  There is one simple way to tell the difference.  Caddis flies have a tri-fold wing, that is tented when the fly is at rest, salmonfly wings lie flat.   Caddis are present throughout the world, and are represented by some 7,000-12,000 different species, depending on who you believe.  Their sheer numbers undoubtedly make it harder to wrap your brain around.   Six to a dozen major mayfly hatches are much easier to remember.     All Caddis flies begin life in larvae form.  The case building caddis is the most famous, and in many places the most common.  These case making larva build their 'shell', from available silt and other sediment, commonly called periwinkles, they have long been used as bait where allowed.  The largest of these is found in the Northwestern US and Canada and eventually hatch into the October Caddis.  There are also net building caddis that trap food like a spider, these larva are stationary and therefore not as important to the fisherman.    In the larva stage caddis or voracious eaters, and especially free living caddis often creep into water too fast for their own good.  This recklessness is of major benefit to trout, and trout fishermen.  Fishing seams of faster water with a good sunken caddis pattern will often result in some aggressive strikes.   Unlike mayflies, caddis enter a pupal stage, where they attach their cases to an rock or sunken log and seal themselves inside.  Non-structure building caddis actually spin a cocoon like a butterfly.  This stage lasts not very long, and while they are inactive they are not of vast importance to trout.   But the emergence is an entirely different story, although it is even shorter lived, it is the source of frenzied activity.  Pupas emerge usually by biting through their casing or cocoon.  Some actually swim to shore and crawl out of the water ala salmonflies, but the majority swim to the surface, usually with the aid of air bubbles from inside their cocoon.  Shedding skin, gills, casings, mandibles, all now unnecessary appendages there is nothing subtle about their emergence.  And the trout now gorge!   Adult caddis live one to two weeks.  They really have oly one job, reproduction.  Egg laying occurs usually at night but not necessarily.  Many summer evenings can be filled with caddis flying into wading fisherman.  Eggs are laid on of two ways, either depositing them from above, or actually swimming into the water.  Again making themselves vulnerable to the trout.

 

 

Prince Nymph fly of the month

We have written that one of the characteristics of a classic fly pattern is not only the popularity of it, but also the variations of the original it inspires. Both of these hurdles are easily cleared by the Prince Nymph, created by Doug Prince. Not only is it one of the all-time most popular nymphs ever tied on a tippet. It has also spawned countless variations, and the classic white wings appear in patterns live the beadhead aggravator and others that are not even nymphs.

The pattern originated in 1941 for fishing the Kings River in California. But since that modest start it has traversed the world catching fish everywhere it goes. What exactly the prince imitates is hard to pinpoint. It is a decent caddis imitation, with the peacock body, and cylindrical proflie. It is a decent stonefly imitation with its goose biot tails. And it is a decent attractor with its gold wrapped body. But its true fish catching abilities come from those white wings. If you ever doubt that cut them off and watch the number of strikes you get spiral downward.

Dead drifting is an effective presentation. It is also an excellent dropper, when you are unsure what the fish may be targeting, as it is known for eliciting strikes when nothing else will. The beadhead version seems to be even more productive especially on slow days and off color water. There are more varieties at Big Y Co Inc than you can shake a stick at. And the number is growing! Other popular varieties include the BH Rainbow Prince especially effective on steelies! BH Rainbow-Ribbed Prince, BH Hot Wire Prince, BH Flashback Prince, BH Prince Pheasant Tail, and BH Royal Prince.

High Water Fly Fishing

Yes you can fly fish in high water
A long, long time ago, I remember waking up at 3 a.m., on a Saturday. I say waking up, although I don't think I ever went to sleep. It was opening day eve, as good as Christmas eve, in my seven year old way of thinking. Our destination was more than three hours away, to the land of huge trout, and lots of them.
Silently, in the light of the moon, my Dad and I climbed in his Ford Falcon and began our ardous three hour journey to the land of Big Fish.
Thta magical mysterious place was, across the Cascade Mountains at the legendary Deschutes River. Home of montser trout. I dozed somewhat on the drive over, waking up to donuts and hot chocolate, as we rambled through the forest. At last, we descended on the flat juniper country of the 'East side', and finally began our twisting descent down the canyon to the mighty river. With my dog, I pressed my nose to the window glass, drooling with anticpation. As we crossed over, I didn't notice the off-color water or the river spilling here and there over it's natural banks. But I did notice my Dad's groan. We stopped, stretched our legs, used the bushes, and then I heard my Dad say, 'blown out.' I was curious and inquired, and learned the river was 'blown out', flooded, too high to fish. Each explanation of the river more seriuos than the last. Until, I realized fishing wasn't going to happen today. As bad as life gets at seven, as bad as no Santa Claus. We threw rocks into the roaring mess, walked around some more, I learned about rock formations, local flora, and then we were off, back to home.
Today I live two blocks from that legendary river, and have learned a thing or two about high water fishing. I have had success here and on other rivers using some very simple techniques.
Where to find fish:
If the current is raging, fish don't really want to be out in it anymore than fly fishers do. They tend to hole up, in slower water, and luckily for us closer to shore. Look for pockets and pools, close in that will provide likely water. Riffles that are normally too shallow, will provide a feeding lane in high water. The nice thing is wading is not required if the fish are lying close to the bank. A word of caution here, high water wading can be extremly dangerous. Water is murky and visibility can be nil, underwater footing can change dramatically. Even if fishing familiar water, the under water terrain could have changed since last fished. A wading staff can help, but fishing from the bank is better yet.
Fish behavior:
As mentioned above, fish don't want to be in the heavy current anymore than you do. But they don't stop feeding. On the contrary, spring run off brings with it the speeding of fish's metabolism, and likewise their desire to eat. Although rising fish are much less likely, fish eat up to 90% of their diet sub-surface anyway. So unless there are peculiarities to your particular river, prepare for sub-surface fishing. This can be disappointing to some diehard dry fly fisher's. But because fish are close in, you may not have such easy access to large fish again, the entire year.
Not that you cannot get a fish to rise in high water. It is possible. I recommend using big bushy fly patterns. For two reasons, one is visibility is poor, and two they float better through turbid waters. Usual rough water attractors are the flies I call on, including Royal Wulff and Stimulators. High floating Foam Hoppers, or Chernobyl Ants also work well.
But by and large fish are feeding sub-surface, in murky waters. And that calls for some special rigging and techniuqes.
High Water Techniques:
The murky water can be a fly fisher's friend. For one thing fish are less easily spooked, and they seem to feel more 'secure' hidden in their sanctuary of dark high water. For this reason you can shorten up those tippets and use stouter tippets than one would normally choose. If 6X is the norm for your particular river go down to 4X. The advantage of the stouter tippet comes into play when you are snagging up on the bottom. I sometimes avoid the use of a strike indicator during high water, so I can better feel the river bottom. As mentioned above fish in high water can be bigger than average, and with the stronger current, you'll putting quite a bit of pressure on your tippet trying to land that big fish.
Murky water typically calls for nymphs, wet flies and streamers. The ones popular in your particular area, should work in the high water. Remember nymphs are having difficulty moving around too, and much more likely to be knocked free. Rigging up with a size or two bigger than norm also helps, as trout are likey to feed on free floating nymphs more than emerging ones, at this time. If in doubt as to what to use, start with the basics, Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, Stonefly nymphs. Using beadheads will help in visiblility and in a faster sink rate. Vary the split shots you use. And don't forget to in a streamer or two as well. Aggravators are notioursly good high water patterns, as are Buggers. Dead drifting these as close to the bottom as possible, and be prepared for hard strikes. If success doesn't come, try using a two fly set up, and probe at different levels. Cover an area thouroughly before moving on, with poor visibility, you virtually have to put the fly in front of the fish.
When you find something that works, stick with it. And when you find fish stay there, fish are less likely to move on, so you are apt to get more fish in one spot then normal.
One last advantage of high water fishing, is relative solitude. Most fly fisher's will still see a river as 'blown out', like my Dad all those years ago. The one's that do try, usually don't have their heart in it. But for those that are patient and try the technique's featured here, their reward quite likely will be some very big fish to remember.

High Water Fly Fishing

Yes you can fly fish in high water
A long, long time ago, I remember waking up at 3 a.m., on a Saturday. I say waking up, although I don't think I ever went to sleep. It was opening day eve, as good as Christmas eve, in my seven year old way of thinking. Our destination was more than three hours away, to the land of huge trout, and lots of them.
Silently, in the light of the moon, my Dad and I climbed in his Ford Falcon and began our ardous three hour journey to the land of Big Fish.
Thta magical mysterious place was, across the Cascade Mountains at the legendary Deschutes River. Home of montser trout. I dozed somewhat on the drive over, waking up to donuts and hot chocolate, as we rambled through the forest. At last, we descended on the flat juniper country of the 'East side', and finally began our twisting descent down the canyon to the mighty river. With my dog, I pressed my nose to the window glass, drooling with anticpation. As we crossed over, I didn't notice the off-color water or the river spilling here and there over it's natural banks. But I did notice my Dad's groan. We stopped, stretched our legs, used the bushes, and then I heard my Dad say, 'blown out.' I was curious and inquired, and learned the river was 'blown out', flooded, too high to fish. Each explanation of the river more seriuos than the last. Until, I realized fishing wasn't going to happen today. As bad as life gets at seven, as bad as no Santa Claus. We threw rocks into the roaring mess, walked around some more, I learned about rock formations, local flora, and then we were off, back to home.
Today I live two blocks from that legendary river, and have learned a thing or two about high water fishing. I have had success here and on other rivers using some very simple techniques.
Where to find fish:
If the current is raging, fish don't really want to be out in it anymore than fly fishers do. They tend to hole up, in slower water, and luckily for us closer to shore. Look for pockets and pools, close in that will provide likely water. Riffles that are normally too shallow, will provide a feeding lane in high water. The nice thing is wading is not required if the fish are lying close to the bank. A word of caution here, high water wading can be extremly dangerous. Water is murky and visibility can be nil, underwater footing can change dramatically. Even if fishing familiar water, the under water terrain could have changed since last fished. A wading staff can help, but fishing from the bank is better yet.
Fish behavior:
As mentioned above, fish don't want to be in the heavy current anymore than you do. But they don't stop feeding. On the contrary, spring run off brings with it the speeding of fish's metabolism, and likewise their desire to eat. Although rising fish are much less likely, fish eat up to 90% of their diet sub-surface anyway. So unless there are peculiarities to your particular river, prepare for sub-surface fishing. This can be disappointing to some diehard dry fly fisher's. But because fish are close in, you may not have such easy access to large fish again, the entire year.
Not that you cannot get a fish to rise in high water. It is possible. I recommend using big bushy fly patterns. For two reasons, one is visibility is poor, and two they float better through turbid waters. Usual rough water attractors are the flies I call on, including Royal Wulff and Stimulators. High floating Foam Hoppers, or Chernobyl Ants also work well.
But by and large fish are feeding sub-surface, in murky waters. And that calls for some special rigging and techniuqes.
High Water Techniques:
The murky water can be a fly fisher's friend. For one thing fish are less easily spooked, and they seem to feel more 'secure' hidden in their sanctuary of dark high water. For this reason you can shorten up those tippets and use stouter tippets than one would normally choose. If 6X is the norm for your particular river go down to 4X. The advantage of the stouter tippet comes into play when you are snagging up on the bottom. I sometimes avoid the use of a strike indicator during high water, so I can better feel the river bottom. As mentioned above fish in high water can be bigger than average, and with the stronger current, you'll putting quite a bit of pressure on your tippet trying to land that big fish.
Murky water typically calls for nymphs, wet flies and streamers. The ones popular in your particular area, should work in the high water. Remember nymphs are having difficulty moving around too, and much more likely to be knocked free. Rigging up with a size or two bigger than norm also helps, as trout are likey to feed on free floating nymphs more than emerging ones, at this time. If in doubt as to what to use, start with the basics, Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, Stonefly nymphs. Using beadheads will help in visiblility and in a faster sink rate. Vary the split shots you use. And don't forget to in a streamer or two as well. Aggravators are notioursly good high water patterns, as are Buggers. Dead drifting these as close to the bottom as possible, and be prepared for hard strikes. If success doesn't come, try using a two fly set up, and probe at different levels. Cover an area thouroughly before moving on, with poor visibility, you virtually have to put the fly in front of the fish.
When you find something that works, stick with it. And when you find fish stay there, fish are less likely to move on, so you are apt to get more fish in one spot then normal.
One last advantage of high water fishing, is relative solitude. Most fly fisher's will still see a river as 'blown out', like my Dad all those years ago. The one's that do try, usually don't have their heart in it. But for those that are patient and try the technique's featured here, their reward quite likely will be some very big fish to remember.