It’s Caddis Time Once More
Well, it is that time of the year again as we get ready to observe one of the most prolific celebrations of birth and renewal, on a fly fisherman's calendar at least. The river flow is stable, the days are getting warmer, the water temperature in the river is doing the same, and that means that the caddis are getting ready to hatch. The Arkansas is a caddis river. There are nearly fifty different species of caddis to be found in the river, but by far and away the most prolific is the humble brachycentris. These little moth-like bugs hatch in their millions from now through run off, plastering windshields, feeding fish and birds, procreating like crazy all the while, and providing anglers who are in the right place at the right time with some of the best dry fly fishing imaginable.
I floated the river a couple of days ago with one of Salida's prodigal sons, Lee Graf. Lee was born and raised in Salida, lives in the big smoke, but is hopefully gravitating back this way. We floated from Salida East to Rincon, and started fishing with a dry and dropper, but pretty soon came upon rising fish, so switched to a caddis and parachute adams rig, which we pretty much kept on for the rest of the day. Every fish you see caught on the video, plus those that got away, were rising to dries. There is still a lot of baetis activity out there on the river, and the caddis aren't quite here yet, so the fishing on the whole tends to be a little patchy right now. You will encounter pockets of active fish, and then periods of calm where nothing seems to be happening. This is pretty typical for now, and is one of the reasons why God[ess] gave us beer and coolers.
The fish that we did catch seemed to be concentrated heavily in the feed lanes and foam lines, rather than up in the pockets and riffles. Further down river, it seems to be the same story, with reports of caddis hatching en masse around the Canon City area as far upriver as Parkdale. While it is spectacular to be in the middle of the hatch, it is usually the case that the more bugs there are on the water, the more fishermen there are thrashing the water trying their best to imitate them. For this reason, I usually like to avoid the hatch proper. It may lead to catching less fish, but makes for a more relaxing time, which is what its all about, after all.
There are all sorts of fancy caddis patterns out there to tempt the fishermen, but for my money, few things can beat a soft hackle pheasant tail, or caddis pupa. For dries, a black foam caddis, or green or hot butt caddis to imitate an egg layer. Egg layers are the ones that move up river in little hops dipping their butt in the water to drop their eggs. Also, in the thick of the hatch, I like to throw something that stands out from the crowd like a royal wulff or parachute hopper. You can easily see it on the water, and often the fish will take it over all the caddis on offer.
Thursday, April 23, 2009