Ice Caddis - Olive  (skill level - Beginner)

The Ice Caddis Pattern is a very simple to tie pattern that is deadly on any Trout river.  Over the years this pattern has become the work horse sub surface pattern that our guides rely on throughout the season. I have had great success with this pattern on both eastern and western Trout Rivers!

I use this fly both alone and as the bottom fly in multi fly nymph rigs. This fly will work well in all water types but really excels in the riffles and pocket water.

Hook - DaiRiki #125">

Ice Caddis - Olive  (skill level - Beginner)

The Ice Caddis Pattern is a very simple to tie pattern that is deadly on any Trout river.  Over the years this pattern has become the work horse sub surface pattern that our guides rely on throughout the season. I have had great success with this pattern on both eastern and western Trout Rivers!

I use this fly both alone and as the bottom fly in multi fly nymph rigs. This fly will work well in all water types but really excels in the riffles and pocket water.

Hook - DaiRiki #125, Caddis, Emerger Hook. Sizes 12 - 16

Thread - Yellow 8/0

Bead - Plastic Craft Bead, Black, Dark Brown

Abdomen - Light Olive Ice Dubbing

Thorax - Olive Brown Ice Dubing

                                                       Step 1                    Step 2                  Step 3                  Step 4                Step 5

 Step #1 - Place hook into vise at downward angle. The downward angle aids in wrapping and also keeps the bead from sliding around.

 Step #2 -  Dub the amount of  Olive Ice Dubbing necessary to form the flies body onto your thread. When adding this material be careful not to dub to tightly. You want to find a balance between just hanging on and not falling off.

Step #3 - The body should be neatly tapered from rear to front  but the appearance should be shaggy and not neat. Your body should extend from beyond the hook bend all the way to the bead. I like to make a few tight wraps behind the bead to help anchor it in place.

Step #4 - Dub a small amount of Olive Brown Ice Dub to your thread. Build up a nice thorax right behind the bead. The thorax should form a distinctive bump and provide an easy to detect line where the abdomen ends and the Thorax / Head area start. When you are happy with the look of the thorax area give it a few strokes with a wire brush to rough it up.

Step #5 - Whip finish and then give it another working with the brush. You should  loosen enough dubbing that there is some trailing from the hook as well. When wet this loose dubbing will trap water and create the illusion of a living caddis worm

This fly is most effective when the finished look is that of controlled chaos. This fly should not look

neat, When fishing this fly you will begin to notice that the more it gets chewed up by the fish the better it becomes. You should keep that in mind when tying it. Do not try to create a fly that will last forever but one that is designed to be pulled apart over time.

This fly is also very effective in the following color configurations - Tan and Brown, Caddis Green and Peacock

 

 

 

 

Upper Delaware Surface Flies

In our fishing report I regularly refer to the flies we use on the water each day. Most of the time we can be successful on the Upper Delaware waters with a CDC Parachute Dun">

Upper Delaware Surface Flies

In our fishing report I regularly refer to the flies we use on the water each day. Most of the time we can be successful on the Upper Delaware waters with a CDC Parachute Dun, CDC Knock Down Dun or a Hackle Wing Spinner. We tie all of the Mayflies using the same procedure but substitute the correct color materials and hook size to match the hatch.

These flies are very realistic and work well even on the slowest of pools.

Below is a photo of a few of the CDC Parachute Duns and CDC Knock Down Duns along with the materials to tie them.

CDC Parachute and Knock Down Dun

Hook; Mustad 94831 dry fly

Tails; Microfibbets

Abdomen; Trout Hunter Turkey or Goose Biots (color to match natural)

Thorax: Trout Hunter Dry Fly Dubbing (color to match natural)

Wing; Trout Hunter CDC (color to match natural)

Hackle; Quality Dry Fly (color to match natural)

I tie these patterns on the 94831 mustad which is a fine wire long hook. The Light wire makes it possible to float up to a size 10 imitation with only the CDC wings. It is important to use 4 fully developed large feathers for the wings on size 10 through 16 imitations. On size 18 and smaller 2 feathers will usually do the trick. I only use the Trout Hunter CDC when tying these patterns. This CDC is the best quality I have ever tied with.

When wrapping the biots to create the abdomen I have experimented with using both sides of the biot. One side will create a smooth waxy look while the other will expose a ridge that will add more realism. I don't think it matters to the fish as both methods work well. When tying the insects from the Stenonoma family I like to rib the abdomen with brown 6/0 monocord as these insects have very pronounced segments. In the photo above you can view patterns tied with biots wound on both sides. The fly furthest to the right has been ribbed with monocord.

 

 

 

Early Season Patterns

With Springtime just around the corner. Most fly fishermen have been tinkering with their equipment and checking fly boxes to see what patterns need to be replaced. For most of us,  our current selection is never enough.  So here are a couple of extra's to tie up and add to your early spring roster.  The Alwive Chew Toy and the Hendrickson Slow Water Cripple.

Alwive Chew Toy

 

                                                                             Hook; Streamer sz. 2

                                                                            Weight; Large Conehead and lead wraps front 1/3

                                                                            Tail; Pearl Ice Wing Fiber (Looped)

                                                                            Under Wing; Ice Wing Fiber Pink

                                                                            Over Wing; Rabbit Zonker Strip (white)

                                                                            Topping; Ice Wing Fiber Minnow Back

This is a heavy pattern that should be fished with short jerks and pauses. This type of erratic retrieve is a dead ringer for a wounded baitfish. This is a big fish fly!

Hendrickson Slow Water Cripple

                                                                        Hook; DaiRiki #270 szs. 10

                                                                        Shuck; Dark Brown Antron

                                                                        Rib; Copper Wire

                                                                        Abdomen; Turkey Center Tail Fibers

                                                                         Thorax; Dun CDC spun in loop

                                                                        Wing; Dark Dun Snowshoe Hare Foot

This pattern will consistently fool Trout in the slower glassy pool. It does however have enough buoyancy to also use in riffles and fast water runs. This fly should be fished as drag free as possible. We prefer a downstream presentation with a reach cast.

 

 

 

Summertime Sulfurs and Olives

During the summer months the East and West Branches of the Delaware offer some of the most reliable dry fly fishing found in the east. Although quite a few species of insects will be on the water during this period the ones most important to fly fishermen fall under the category of Sulfur's or Olive's. From early July through Mid August tiny Sulfurs (#18 and Smaller) make up the bulk of our Trout's daily diet. From mid August until cold weather shuts down the fishery tiny Olive's (#18 and Smaller) become the daily staple.

Because these insects emerge by the thousands, are tiny in size and found in the slow glassy pools typical of summer and autumn, fooling fish at this time can be quite difficult. While our guides may use a variety of patterns and stages of these insects at times, we still have our best luck fishing the dun stage of both of these insects during the emergence.

During all of our early season hatches we prefer dun imitations that sit low and have bodies that penetrate the surface of the water such as parachutes, comparadun's, cdc comparaduns and klinkhammer's.  For our summer fishing however we find these patterns to be just so-so.

After observing thousands of these tiny insects floating down river drying their wings one can quickly see the reason why flush floating flies don't get the same results as during early season hatches. These tiny Duns float on the surface film with only their legs making an impression on the water. The majority of these tiny duns hold their abdomens so high that their tails almost touch the tips of their wings.

After some trial and error with different dry fly styles I've found that on a daily basis Thorax Style dry flies will produce the most action.  Although this style has lost some of it's popularity to parachutes and cdc comparaduns, during summer and autumn it is my go to style when guiding on the East, West and Main Delaware. When fished downstream in a drag free fashion this fly will sit high on the water with the same silhouette as the naturals and consistently produce confident takes.

Here are a couple of our favorite Thorax patterns Please note the x wrapped hackle on the photo enlargements. This style of wrapping the hackle is what produces the correct impression on the surface of the water.

Thorax Sulfur-                                                Thorax Olive

                                                   

Hook; standard dry fly #18 -22                             Hook; standard dry fly #18 -22          

thread; 8/0 uni-thread yellow                                Thread; 8/0 uni-thread yellow

wing; Light Dun CDC                                                wing; dark Dun CDC

Tails; Light Dun Microfibets                                    Tails; Light Dun Microfibets

Abdomen; Sulfur yellow turkey biot                        Abdomen; olive turkey biot   

Thorax; sulfur yellow dry fly dubbing                    thorax; olive dry fly dubbing

hackle ; light ginger dry fly                                    hackle ; dark dun dry fly