Spring Caddis Emerger

(click on any image for zoom magnification)

Above photo: A Spring Caddis Emerger on a #16 Hanak 300 BL

In early spring, water levels are typically higher, and water flows at a moderate to fast pace with the March and April rains. Having a dedicated spring fly box really helps in both cloudy and high-water conditions. Deer hair patterns specifically for caddis are a must-have early in the spring, especially if you're bouncing around in boulder-strewn streams and faster runs in spring creeks. 

(click on any image for zoom magnification)

Above photo: This pattern can be tied with many different materials

using a peacock quill body, abdomen dubbed and ribbed with floss, legs added, with or without antennae. Be creative with your emergers depending on the different 

types of water you plan on fishing in.

The Spring Caddis Emerger pattern, as seen in the photo above, uses Kapok, beaver belly, and snowshoe rabbit fur combined with coastal deer hair to form a very buoyant fly. This pattern uses a pheasant-tail fiber wing case, folded over to form the thorax. The pattern itself has evolved over the years, and honestly, there are about half a dozen versions of this fly tied by some old-timers, but I couldn't tell you who really came up with it. I have a few old fly-tying books from the 1950's and 60's that fold pheasant fibers onto deer hair for nymph patterns, so I'm sure it simply evolved into a dry emerger somewhere in its lineage. Often emerger patterns can be a little tricky in faster water, especially in a spring torrent. So building a better mousetrap for those tricky fish, taking only emergers in the faster current, is a prerequisite during these wet and often windy months.

Typically, I exponentially pair down my dressings as the season progresses; this same fly will be fished with a CDC loop wing in place of the coastal deer hair in the summer and fall. The hook size will decrease significantly, but the fly's basic architecture will remain intact. “Tying Small” is something I religiously do when pivoting into slower-seasonal water. Taking your more robust patterns and morphing them into gossamer micropatterns, as described in Darrel Martin's book Micropatterns, is a wonderful way to economize your tried-and-true fly patterns. This pattern is relatively simple to tie and pays big dividends on the swift spring waters. Remember, relative proportions are very important.

Spring Caddis Emerger

Hook: Hanak 300 BL

Thread: UTC Ultra 70 dark brown or black

Abdomen: Polish Quill (stripped peacock) dun, olive, or brown

Wing: Coastal deer hair

Wing Case: Pheasant tail fibers

Legs: Lemon duck flank fibers

Thorax: Kapok, beaver belly, and snowshoe rabbit's foot

Antennae: Lemon duck flank fibers x2

Thanks for letting me share!  ~Clint Bova         www.cjbovarods.com