Biot Caddis

For many years I have been tying a Caddis pattern for spooky Browns in slow, shallow, and very clear water. I use this pattern when the odds are stacked up against me and the typical bushy Caddis patterns are not even an option. The biot winged Caddis that I tie is from a medium dusky warm gray to a dark gray color. I tie it with both a gray and green abdomen with an occasional pair of antenna. Typically I tie this pattern small from sizes #18-#22. Biots make for a great winging material they are waxy looking like the naturals, are translucent, and dye easily to the color that best suits your stream naturals. Caddisflies are actually very streamline when at rest. Their wing cases create a long delta pitch and their legs splay only a minimal amount on the surface film. Creating a Caddis pattern for slow, clear, and shallow water is a never ending creative visualization that always seems to have room for improvement. This is a very easy no frills guide pattern. Once you get the winging technique dialed in you can crank out dozens of these very quickly. 

~Using a TMC 531 hook, #18-#22, dub a carrot shaped 

abdomen using gray or green. The TMC 531 is a 

great hook with a shorter shank but proportionally 

larger gape that hook sets well with the slashing 

rises that these flies most often induce. 

 Note: the TMC 531 is a difficult hook to find 

here in the USA so call around to your local 

fly shops to locate a box or two.

 

~Use Coq de Leon feathers for the underwing material.

These are very stiff fibers that help with flotation.

I get my feathers from the Leon District of Spain 

in light pardo, medium pardo, and dark pardo.

  

~Using biots from left and right wings of a turkey feather 

place both biots together between your index finger and 

thumb so the convex sides face out and away from each other. 

Using fine tipped scissors snip a delta wing profile. Make 

sure the spline of the biot is oriented on the top portion of the 

wing the thinner translucent edge is on the bottom.

 Tye these in like you are tying in a turkey 

flat parachute post. Lean the pair of biots in towards you 

and as you wrap twist it away from you with a few secure 

wraps. I put a drop of head cement on these at this point 

because they tend to be a bit slippery. 

Tie in a hackle collar using a light, 

medium, or a dark dun feather. You can snip away

the bottom portion of the collar flush with the 

abdomen or leave it as is.

This is a very simple, productive small fly that pays dividends in quiet spookey water.
(photos: Clint Bova)

~Clint Bova