Caddis

Caddis

Let’s just talk Caddis flies. The Caddis is one of the trout’s favorite aquatic insects. After it hatches from it’s tiny egg, the Caddis fly starts out it’s life as a Larva. As you can see it has a segmented body with pairs of legs near it’s head. The caddis larva will live under water and make “homes” for themselves from pieces of wood or stone, while some will create web like homes attached to rocks on the bottom of the stream. The trout love these larva and will eat them home and all. These are called ‘encased caddis’. Once the larva are ready to emerge to become adults they become a Pupa. They form wing buds and swim up to the surface. As they fight through the film layer of the surface, the trout will pick the slow ones off one by one. The ones that make it to the surface of the water will “pop out” of their exoskeleton and dry their wings and fly away to mate and start the process all over again.  The Caddis Adult looks like a moth with it’s wings horizontal along it’s back. When the Caddis adults return to lay their eggs on the surface (some even swim down to the bottom to do this) that is when you will see trout eating them off the top of the water. Choosing the correct fly during the caddis life cycle can be critical in your “catching” fish during that day.

 

Here is a video to help you understand the Caddis fly and gain valuable insights on how they behave and what they really look like to the trout. 
This excerpt was taken from the Bugs of the Underworld by Ralph and Lisa Cutter. Look online if you are interested in purchasing their DVD.

 

Larvae Stage

Pupa Stage

Adult Stage