Harrop’s Caddis System
Because of their rarity, things that remain reliable gain increased significance to an aging angler who finds only discomfort in most change. But near the end of each long winter, I continue to find renewal as the pulse of the river quickens and once again trout begin to rise.
Hatches during the cold season are invariably comprised of tiny midges or Baetis mayflies that challenge one’s eyesight as critically as the casting arm. As a younger man, I ignored the discomfort of cutting wind, chilled fingers, and the labor of trudging through knee-deep snow to reach the water. Even then, however, my thoughts would eventually turn to the pleasure of warmer days and the return of insects that could be matched with a fly larger than size 20.
In my part of the world, there is never a reliable date for the first appearance of any hatch. But nature provides its own signals for spring’s arrival, and when night temperatures cease to fall below freezing and the streamside willows come into bud, it is time to look for the year’s first caddisflies.
In my early days of fly fishing, I did not know a caddisfly from a leaf hopper. However, I quickly learned that the annoying swarms at the river’s edge could translate to rising trout and that a simple Adams dry fly was a close enough match.
It would be at least a decade before I began to understand the complexity of the caddisfly’s existence, but there was bliss in my ignorance. In those days, local waters were never crowded, and the fish were far more charitable in their willingness to take a fly. More than 40 years later, the behavior of trout and the humans who pursue them have altered the simplicity I enjoyed in my youth. Although caddisflies continue to provide significant opportunity, a dramatic increase in angler attention has changed the way trout respond to an artificial fly.
As fly fishers, we praise ourselves by choosing to release rather than harvest our catch, and there are positives in this civilized mentality. It is good that trout populations are not significantly depleted by our actions and individual trout are allowed to gain greater size and desirability. The downside is a conditioned response to avoid capture. Counteracting this enhanced elusiveness depends on several factors, not the least of which is a firm understanding of a trout’s food sources. And as much as we wish fly fishing could be less complicated, we must all face this reality as its popularity continues to grow.
Caddisflies, or caddis, are key members of a diverse community of aquatic insects that includes mayflies, stoneflies, and midges, among others. In most trout waters, they are no less important than any other hatch-producing organism, and the complexity of their life cycles equals or exceeds those of their aquatic cousins. Distinct in both appearance and behavior, caddis in their varying stages are an available and attractive nutriment for trout throughout the year.
In retrospect, it is clear why caddis gained almost instant endearment to an aspiring fly rodder with little knowledge or finesse. Among their most notable characteristics is a propensity for movement, both on and beneath the water. Like most beginners, I struggled in situations when a drag-free drift was required during a mayfly emergence or spinner fall. Little did I know that a fly moving in opposition to the current could actually duplicate the natural behavior of caddis adults on the surface. In the beginning, this would happen by accident, but I would later learn to entice a response by intentionally twitching my dry fly near a caddis-feeding trout. I later designed specific patterns for this technique.
My father loved fly fishing, but he never progressed beyond swinging or stripping wet flies across the current, and he would quickly switch to bait if the trout proved unresponsive. Like most of that generation, his catch was primarily dependent on finding undisturbed waters, and it didn’t hurt that most trout in his day were relatively gullible cutthroat. He did not know, and probably didn’t care, that his unsophisticated method and nondescript patterns were most likely imitative of caddis pupae rising quickly toward the surface to hatch.
The same procedure worked for me as well, until I began to explore other waters where more anglers pursued haughty rainbows and secretive brown trout. By necessity, I began to refine my tactics as my obsession grew and failure became unacceptable. Although painfully slow, my understanding of the underwater aspects of caddis began to expand as did my ability to contend with those elusive factors with a fly rod and at the tying vise.
Emerging Caddis
Fly-fishing growth is proportionate to time spent on the water, and observation may be the most important component. Close scrutiny of the water taught me that just before emergence, most caddis pupae propel themselves rapidly to the surface. This is when I find most success using an Ascending Caddis on a tight line quartering downstream.
Release from the pupal shuck occurs quickly, and the aquatic insects become airborne winged adults in a few seconds. Hungry trout must react quickly to intercept escaping prey, and the accelerated feeding action is a distinct tip-off that emerging caddis are their likely objective.
Much of this activity takes place close to the surface and produces what is often mistaken for rises to floating insects. One must also be alert for times when an emerging pupa changing to a winged adult becomes the primary target. This brief condition of immobility takes place in or just below the surface film, and the artificial must mimic what is taking place. In neither instance is a fully winged adult appropriate.
The metamorphosis from pupa to adult requires a pattern that exhibits elements of both stages. Bear in mind that this is not a fixed image for more than a few seconds unless the insect is somehow injured in the process. Years of experimentation have led me to the conclusion that a compact and portly configuration such as the CDC Caddis Emerger or CDC Bubble Back Caddis does the best job of portraying the bulging thoracic area of an adult beginning to push its way through the confinement of the pupal skin. A loop of CDC over the back of the body forms a bubble effect that supports the fly in the correct position in the surface film while duplicating this tempting image.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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