Caseless
Caddis (Ryacophila)
by Hans van
Klinken
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Photographs:
Hans Weilenmann
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Hook: |
Partridge GRS12ST or GRS15ST size 12 |
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Thread: |
Uni thread 8/0 Black |
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Underbody: |
Leadwire (shank one
layer, thorax double) |
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Rib: |
Monofilament 0,20mm
at least 12 windings |
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Wing: |
Furry foam or dubbing |
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Shellback: |
Flexibody |
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Thorax: |
Fitch or mink (dark
brown) dubbing well picked out |
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Head: |
Black |
THE CASELESS CADDIS LARVA
Examine the gullet of just about any trout caught at
just about any time of day, and just about any time of
year, in just about any water, and the changes are you
will find at least one caddis larva. Examine just about
any submerged rock of stick, or disturb the bottom
sediment on just about any piece of fresh water, and the
changes are you will find caddis larva. A large number
of them are those omnipresent little buggers that make
those cases out of spruce needles, or tiny sticks or
even fine gravel or weeds. On the other side you have a
large group of caseless ones. For trout it doesn't
matter if they are cased or not. Trout really love them.
On a season-long base, caddis larva's are arguably the
most prolific trout food and we are crazy not to use
them. A caddis larva imitation should be in our fly
boxes at all times.
IMITATIONS
In 1986 I started to collect caseless caddis species
from several rivers, which I tried to imitate as close
as possible during the winter months. The first patterns
I tied were not pretty looking creatures, but rougher
bottom bouncers. They were a little too heavy and too
bulky and did not look like the real insect I was trying
to copy. However, the flies worked reasonably well.
Despite this, I discovered that it was not easy to tie
realistic nymphs! Improvements were made several times
but still I was not satisfied. My large Scandinavia
nymph was even better and I had more confidence in them
because he had proved to be very effective all over
Europe. It is no secret that the caseless caddis
imitations, which I use today where, developed after
some long discussions with England's Oliver Edwards,
accepted as one of the finest fly tiers in Europe. I
told him a lot about my large Scandinavian patterns,
fishing techniques and thoughts. We are good friends and
share each other secrets and techniques without
hesitation. Oliver taught me not only how to study the
anatomy of an insect, but he also showed me how to
combine and handle natural and synthetics in a more
effective way. He also convinced me that heavily leaded
patterns are not always better catchers then sparsely
weighted nymphs. Nowadays I even believe that under some
circumstances unweighted patterns can be more effective
then weighted ones.
The first prototypes of the Caseless Caddis in my series
were developed in the winter of 1987. At that time I
still tied my patterns in probably 15 different colours.
The first successful attempts to use the caseless caddis
occurred in a Germany river where my friend Jack and I
caught plenty of fish with this very effective nymph
pattern. Now I use mainly yellowish and greenish
variations. Therefore I have large quantity and sizes of
those colours in my fly-box today.
IMPROVEMENTS
After my conversations with Oliver, it was time to
experiment. I improved several of my patterns in the
first months of 1988 and tried to give them a more
realistic and better-looking appearance. One of them was
my imitation of the caseless caddis nymph. I think I had
learned a lot from Oliver vision about realistic nymph
patterns very much. About the same time Gertjan Doedens,
another Dutchmen designed a similar caddis larva. His
idea of using flexibody as back material finally led me
to this excellent caddis larva imitation. The reason
that I used a curved hook to present my caddis is
because I find out that disorientated larva often will
drift in this way. This is why I mainly fish the pattern
in a dead drift. Another improtant reason for curved
hooks is because the hooking power is much better.
FISHING, RESULTS AND TECHNIQUES
The caseless caddis proved also to be an excellent
pattern for beginners. It is easy to tie and extremely
easy to fish with. I fish the Caseless Caddis mostly in
dead drift and therefore blind, but when the conditions
are right I love it to fish this pattern by sight in
clear water. In deeper or more coloured water where I
can not see any fish I always use a fine bite-indicator
which I put directly on the connection loop where tippet
and braided leader are knotted together. I fish it in an
upstream dead drift, watch the bite-indicator and set
the hook at any movement, no matter how small and
trivial it sometimes might be. With this fishing
technique even brooks or small streams with a lot of
weed are much easier to handle. The second reason for
using a bite-indicator is to present the nymph on the
right depth.
TYING TECHNIQUES
- Put fine lead wire
on the hook shank (two layers around the thorax).
Optionally coat with varnish.
- Tie in 0.20mm/0.08"
diameter clear monofilament for use as rib and to
create the body segmentation.
- Secure the
underbody well with thread and lacquer to be sure the
materials will be not twist around the hook shank when
the fly is finished.
- Cut out a small
piece of transparent flexibody in the shape as shown
in the photograph.
- Tie in the strip of
flexibody.
- Tie in a narrow
strip of Furry foam. If furry foam is not available
use hare-tron or fine dubbing material.
- Wrap the furryfoam
around the shank to form the abdomen.
- Use some dark mink
or fitch guardhairs/underfur spun in a dubbing loop
for the thorax. Make a well defined thorax.
- Pull over the
flexibody. Secure it with your tying thread.
- Wind the
monofilament in at least 12 turns to the eye of the
hook and tie off. You have now a good and effective
segmentation, which is of vital important for this
pattern.
- Pick out the mink
hairs to define the legs, and the Caseless Caddis is
complete.
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