What Do You Do?

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- December 27, 2018 at 7:12 am #7202
  
  Tim McCoy
  Participant
  
  Here is your situation. You are on your favorite trout stream. Suddenly there is a caddis hatch. You search your fly box for a dry fly caddis pattern. You find that you have filled your fly box with Craig Mathew’s X-Caddis fly pattern. You have thought ahead enough to have tied this pattern in 3 sizes, 12-14-16 and in three colors, tan-brown-olive. You search the sky and water and quickly determine the brown fly in size 14 is a good match. You quickly tie one on. You return to fishing. But are met with rejection, no trout is even rising to your caddis imitation. You change to the olive color, then the tan. Same story, rejection. You are certain that the hatch is a caddis with it’s down wing. Likewise, you are sure the size 14 is a good match. So, what do you do? Think! Think! Kenny is not there to help you, you are all along. Post your answer. I will come back in a week and tell you how I reacted to the situation to catch fish.
- December 27, 2018 at 7:26 am #7203
  
  bkbying89
  Participant
  
  Hi, Tim,
  I would first drop down in size to a 16, then lengthen my tippet. If that didn’t work I would go to a lighter tippet.
  
  Bill
- December 27, 2018 at 9:54 am #7204
  
  Barry Dunnegan
  Participant
  
  Bill has given good advice. However, are trout feeding on adult caddis top water? Caddis flying may be mating swarm. Females may be laying eggs by diving under water. If Bill’ suggestion doesn’t work try a caddis emerger by clipping away hackle and trimming the elk hair shorter to look like a bug just under the surface, or add split shot and fish it as a wet fly.
- December 27, 2018 at 10:30 am #7207
  
  Jim Craig
  Keymaster
  
  What’s a caddis?
  
  (Sorry, this was just getting too serious.)
  
  I would probably swing a brown soft hackle, size 16.
  
  I eagerly await the reveal!
- December 28, 2018 at 9:27 am #7233
  
  MOfishMO
  Participant
  
  Love the technique dialogue! Especially for us newbies. I’m learning…in this situation, smaller fly size, fishing deeper, changing to a different caddis fly type like an emerger, nymph, etc…, tippet length & size, change the fly completely. What else??? Lets keep it going, please….inquiring minds want to know. Lets get serious. 🙂
- December 31, 2018 at 2:09 pm #7261
  Tim McCoy
  Participant
  Barry is pretty close. I noticed the Caddis were sitting pretty low on the water surface, where as my X-caddis fly was riding taller. I pulled out my .89 cent toe nail clippers from Walmart and trimmed a way a small bit of the elk hair wing and completely removed the shuck. These small changes made my fly more effective, and I caught fish for a bit. Then a strong breeze blew up and the Caddis flies where gone in a flash. It was a nice day on the water, made better by being able to noodle out the problem.
  
  On this particular day I only had X-caddis patterns in my fly bow. I had left the fly box with the elk hair Caddis at home on my fly tying desk. If I had the elk-hair with me I think I would have had the same problem, and the same solution. Trim the hackle from the bottom of the fly and remove some of the wing.
  
  Thanks for responding, no prize offered, just part of the learning process.
  - This reply was modified 5 years ago by Tim McCoy.
- January 1, 2019 at 10:28 pm #7270
  Mcclurey
  Participant
  Valuable and interesting information. Tim, thank you for the insight. Great thought process.
  - This reply was modified 5 years ago by Mcclurey.
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