Cased Caddis

Created by John Hazel

HOOK: 200R, sizes 6-12. Weight the hook with wire wraps and/or a black bead head. THREAD: Black RIB: Copper wire BODY: Wrap with three to five strands of peacock herl. Tie in a furnace or grizzly hackle at the head and wrap it to the tail. Tie it off with the copper wire, then wrap the wire forward. Trim the furnace hackle so it's short and bristly, as shown. HEAD: Tan-cream or pink-orange Haretron, then black Haretron

Uses

Imitates a drifting cased caddis. Particularly useful to imitate the cased form of the October caddis (genus Discosmoecus). Cased caddis don't get dislodged and drift in the current as often as free-living caddis, but it does happen, and trout will take them, case and all.

 
When threatened, cased caddis withdraw their heads into the case like a turtle retreating into its shell. But when they drift, they usually stick their heads out of the case, perhaps to get a look at where they are going. Often, the last thing they see is the open mouth of a trout.

Variations

A bead head is a good idea because it will help the fly reach the bottom, where it belongs. Vary the hook size to match the size of the caddis you find in the river.

How to match other cased caddis larvae

How to Fish

Dead drift the fly near the bottom using the indicator, tight line presentations.