First try at a peeking caddis...

[country52]

First try at a peeking caddis. What is good and what do I need to change?

 

[beeber2]

That looks good to me. Nicely tied! If I were a fish I would eat it.

 

[sandfly]

beeber you are a fish...lol

 

[mike_richardson]

I like it. I think the fish would like it too.

Only real critique I would have are all pretty much just my on my personal take on the pattern and my own subjective views:

1: the "sticks" at the tail are a bit, not sure what you used on the material. If you are fishing it deep, you may lose a few. I like a bit more there, but that is subjective. I personally use Hungarian partridge or grouse tail fibers. I do not tie them in like a typical soft hackle, and tie in a few fiber clumps at a time. but that is mainly because I am no wiz when it comes to soft hackle.

2: the dubbing IMO looks a bit loose, and the ribbing is digging in a bit, making it look a bit more segmented. I like mine to look pretty smooth and even with as little segmentation as possible. and just have the ribbing there to keep the dubbing from coming apart as much when a fish strikes, and a little flash.

No matter what my subjective opinions are that fly will catch fish no doubt. Great first try, and a real fish catcher for sure. now just add about 8 more to you box

 

[attackone]

mike_richardson wrote:
I like it. I think the fish would like it too.

Only real critique I would have are all pretty much just my on my personal take on the pattern and my own subjective views:

1: the "sticks" at the tail are a bit, not sure what you used on the material. If you are fishing it deep, you may lose a few. I like a bit more there, but that is subjective. I personally use Hungarian partridge or grouse tail fibers. I do not tie them in like a typical soft hackle, and tie in a few fiber clumps at a time. but that is mainly because I am no wiz when it comes to soft hackle.

2: the dubbing IMO looks a bit loose, and the ribbing is digging in a bit, making it look a bit more segmented. I like mine to look pretty smooth and even with as little segmentation as possible. and just have the ribbing there to keep the dubbing from coming apart as much when a fish strikes, and a little flash.

No matter what my subjective opinions are that fly will catch fish no doubt. Great first try, and a real fish catcher for sure. now just add about 8 more to you box

the green is actually the head poking out or "peeking" of the casing that is why he burnt the end to give it a head and those arent sticks they are the legs

 

[peen9305]

and boom goes the dynamite

 

[mike_richardson]

I know the green is the "peeking worm section" and the burnt tip is the head head.

I prefer to tie mine to imitate larger caddis flies, that encase themselves with sticks. I use a bit more of the partridge or grouse to imitate the longer sticks that are often found on that type of caddis.

If going with the legs I would only put them on the bottom of the fly, and reduce the length of them a bit.

All personal preference though.

 

[Maurice]

mike_richardson wrote:
I know the green is the "peeking worm section" and the burnt tip is the head head.

I prefer to tie mine to imitate larger caddis flies, that encase themselves with sticks. I use a bit more of the partridge or grouse to imitate the longer sticks that are often found on that type of caddis.

If going with the legs I would only put them on the bottom of the fly, and reduce the length of them a bit.

All personal preference though.

Sounds like cranefly larvae to me Mike.

Caddis build the chimney cases and pebble/sand cluster cases. Cranefly larvae are much larger and work with sticks. TTBOMK. Also they are far less likely to break loos as larvae houses and create the "peeking" presentation.

 

[gutcutter]

mike_richardson wrote:
I am really happy with the looks of this pattern. I am thinking of using the "Breadcrust" that was discussed earlier as the cased part on some of them as well. The flies I tied this morning consisted of a bead, some lead wire, inch worm foam bodies, (with head and legs colored with permanent marker) Hungarian partridge hackle and grey squirrel dubbing. Really easy, but they look pretty good. I did use some vevus pearl ribbing on one, but not sure I Like it yet.

I am thinking this will be a killer pattern for me this year. I did a few this morning and think they turned out ok. I don't really tie with soft hackle too often, so that will be the thing I will be working on the most.

I am wondering how long you all make the soft hackle fibers at the end. I know that caddis cases vary significantly, and it may not be that big of an issue, but I am really working at getting proper proportions down this year.

I was thinking that antron yarn, or polypropolene is the more excepted peeping material but I just wanted to give it a go with the foam. I don't tie many inch worms anyway

Any other thoughts on materials for this pattern?

Any other variations I should look at?

Anyone have success with the peeping caddis pattern?

Posted on: 1/28 9:37

mike_richardson,
3 months ago you were asking questions because you had no clue about this.
Now you're criticizing a well tied pattern.
Give it a break.
Nice fly, country52 That dog will hunt.

 

[country52]

Any advice is appreciated. Based on other ties I have seen I thought maybe the chenille and legs were too long. I see what you mean with the segmented look. I'll have to loosen up with the mono. For the legs I didn't have hungarian partridge. I used the dull brindle looking feathers of a pheasant that the wings lay over.

 

[lv2nymph]

The only thing I would change is the fact it's not in the water.

 

[mike_richardson]

I did not criticize a thing. I only stated what I would do differently on the pattern, and what I try to represent.I stated that it was all subjective to my tastes. I complimented the fly and stated it will catch fish and will work as is.

Not sure where you got I was criticizing the pattern. All of my input was constructive and tasteful. Please unbunch your panties, calm down, and go fishing.

These are the caddis flies I found that are similar to the ones I see. If I can catch any I will be sure to post them up. I feel the case is mainly dependent on what the larva can find. People even put larva in tanks with gold and silver pieces to have them construct cases out of them. Many of the larva I have seen have had large sticks on the sides, and even put them out past their head as well as their rear end.

 

[mike_richardson]

Any advice is appreciated. Based on other ties I have seen I thought maybe the chenille and legs were too long. I see what you mean with the segmented look. I'll have to loosen up with the mono. For the legs I didn't have hungarian partridge. I used the dull brindle looking feathers of a pheasant that the wings lay over.

I think at you may want to look at using a bit less dubbing. it will help keep it tighter before you rib the fly. I personally like to have a little bit less on the dub and double wrap if necessary. Once you rib the fly it will be packed a bit tighter, and will hold up to more fish. be sure to counter wrap the ribbing, and hold at a 45 degree angle or so to cover the dubbing and keep it tight for a longer lasting pattern.

I don't thing the chennile is all that long but could be shortened up a bit. And the length of the hackle parts will be fine. Examind the pictures I put up. You could even get away with stacking a few pheasant tail fibers along the sides.

 

[mike_richardson]

There is a thread where this was discussed before called "peeping caddis pattern" . Many members put up patterns that cover a broad range of case styles that caddis larva like create.

Hope this helps, and again your fly will work just fine.

 

[country52]

Thanks

 

[franklin]

What size hook is that?

 

[country52]

12 scud

 

[wbranch]

Nice fly! Here is my rendition. Somebody told me I "copied" it from some famous tier - who knows? When you are tying long enough and thinking about innovations sometimes you very well might tie something that has been tied before.

 

[lv2nymph]

^^Yep...^^

 

[mike_richardson]

tied them with a 3.3mm tung bead in gold, and 2.8mm in black, on 1xl size 14 nymph hooks, and had a ball yesterday on yellow creek. I really liked the hare version, but I think the grey squirrel still out performs it. I did notice that when fishing the slower water with a sliltier bottom the hare worked. I am imagining this may be because the caddis are using more of the small sand like particles to encase themselves.