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Copper Caddis Emerger
Tied by Dan Kennaley |
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Abdomen: Copper wire (sorry don't know the gauge, but fairly heavy)
Hackle: Hungarian partridge tied wet fly collar style.
Hook: Mustad 9671 #14
Thread: Tan (Uni-thread 6/0)
Thorax: Tan sparkle yarn
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| Tying Instructions |
I needed a emerging caddis pattern for a mid September caddis hatch on
Ontario's Credit River. The caddis in question was a creamy tan coloured
pupa. The brook trout seemed to be keying on the ascent of the pupae toward
the surface and were taking them just under the surface. In 1996 I tied up
some Emergent Pupa from Eric Leiser's THE BOOK OF FLY PATTERNS (pg. 141),
but because they weren't weighted enough, did not have good results. However, I had also purchased Oliver Edwards' book FLYTYERS MASTERCLASS and
was impressed with his Rhyacophila Pupa pattern (pg. 121). So I tied up
some of them too in creams and tans.
Armed with these two patterns I hit the Credit again this past year in mid
September. The hatch occured right on schedule just at dusk. I started
with Edward's pattern because, it being the more realistic looking of the
two, I figured it would likely be the more successful. I did catch some
fish with it and got lots of strikes, but many of the strikes seemed to be
short and tentative. It was as if the Brookies weren't entirely convinced.
So this year I first decided to design my own pattern. Eventually I decided to try my pupa pattern. It was great! The fish
absolutely nailed it. I think it had to do with the weight that the copper
gave to the fly. This additional weight allowed me to more closely imitate
the ascent of the naturals and, again, that seemed to be what the Brookies
were looking for.
This is another example of how, sometimes, a quicker to tie, more
impressionistic pattern, will out-fish a longer to tie, more realistic
pattern. But it is important to realize that it may have not been so much a
case of impressionism vs. realism of appearance, but more a case of how each
fly acted or functioned in the water that resulted in the success of the
more impressionistic pattern.
The copper makes for a nicely segmented abdomen, the sparkle yarn may give
the illusion of the trapped air bubble which many authors advocate in tying
caddis emergers and the long partridge hackle do a nice job of imitating the
legs and antennae of the naturals, something again advocated by many authors
in tying caddis emergers. The flies are tied in the round for those that
like that idea and they are easy and quick to tie.
This is another example of how, sometimes, a quicker to tie, more
impressionistic pattern, will out-fish a longer to tie, more realistic
pattern. But it is important to realize that it may have not been so much a
case of impressionism vs. realism of appearance, but more a case of how each
fly acted or functioned in the water that resulted in the success of the
more impressionistic pattern.
The copper makes for a nicely segmented abdomen, the sparkle yarn may give
the illusion of the trapped air bubble which many authors advocate in tying
caddis emergers and the long partridge hackle do a nice job of imitating the
legs and antennae of the naturals, something again advocated by many authors
in tying caddis emergers. The flies are tied in the round for those that
like that idea and they are easy and quick to tie. |
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