How to Approach The Mother’s Day Caddis

How to Approach The Mother’s Day Caddis

The Mother’s Day Caddis is the first significant dry fly hatch of the year in the Western United States, usually in late April and early May. Yes, there are cold and miserable weather midges and Blue-Winged Olives beforehand, but the Grannom caddis (Brachycentrus occidentalis) is often the season’s first “bigger bug,” unless you’re lucky to frequent watersheds with significant Skwala stonefly (Skwala americana) populations.

A medium-sized, moth-like insect, ranging in size from #14 to #16, the Grannom more than makes up for its slightly pedestrian stature with blizzard-like hatches and a total biomass that can be astonishing, at times, to witness. Often a midday to afternoon dry fly event for anglers, the MDC emergence generally coincides with warming spring (water) temperatures, and the river’s larger fish will be reliably attuned.  

Grannoms have a telltale “dark olive to black abdomen” and slightly grayish-olive wings when they first emerge. Most of your rank and file caddis dry fly patterns are tied with tan to olive body fly recipes, but it’s important to recognize how dark, even black, the naturals can be. There’s also a fair amount of circa fly fishing literature about fishing transitional emergers before the hatch, Lafontaine’s Sparkle Pupas, Edible Emergers etc., which can be productive, I suppose. But isn’t the point of the  “first significant dry fly hatch of the year” to dust off your favorite, soft-action fly rods and a new container of Shimazaki Dry Shake?

Get out of the lead-slinging salt mines for a few months and work on your dry fly game.

Here’s a quick bulleted list of trusted MDC patterns and a few basic tips to consider.

As mentioned above, the Grannom fly size is a pretty true #14 to #16 hook, though there are many occasions you might want to upsize your patterns. MDC emergences can be so prolific with thousands of bugs matting and collecting, you often need a slightly larger pattern to stand out from the naturals. You might also want to consider parachute fly patterns that provide a clear visual marker amongst the flotillas of real bugs. The actual fly pattern may not matter as much as seeing the damn thing.

Becoming an effective MDC angler, and dry fly angler in general, is often about understanding the different kinds of water fish are feeding in, so you’re able to approach them with the most effective fly patterns and techniques. Fish chasing skittering caddis in humpy riffles are completely different than bank feeders, quietly sipping egg layers. A high riding Godddard or Peacock Caddis with some movement might be perfect for more aggressive fish, chasing active bugs in faster water. In the next run over, the one with a long, greasy slick behind a big boulder, those same bugs and techniques may fail miserably. Take your time to study and understand rise forms–the key to dry fly fishing is decoding how and why a fish is feeding in a particular rhythm or fashion.

Accuracy. This may seem incredibly obvious, but the more bugs there are on the water, the less likely a fish is required to move out of its feeding lane to find food. MDC hatches often produce astonishing numbers of insects and the feeding lanes of bigger fish can become narrow and highly precise. These aren’t summer fish that might cruise out several feet, or more, to inspect a hopper. Figure out the distance, feeding rhythm and put the fly on their nose.

Hunt, sort, select. MDC hatches can be a great time of year to find big fish feeding on dry flies. After a long winter of cold flows and tiny bugs, older fish can be gluttonous with the warming water and caddis frenzy, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy. Really big fish tend to surround themselves in pods of other (smaller) fish as a survival strategy. Identify the alpha dogs, ignore the younger year-class fish and target the fish worth targeting. Every smaller fish you harass in close proximity to the larger ones radically reduces your chances of catching those larger fish. Think of the small fish like military scouts, warning the upper command of unusual enemy activity…   

MDC Emergers: These are flies designed to represent the caddis as it emerges from its pupal shuck and transitions to an adult. These are often effective as trout key in on this vulnerable, early stage.

Partridge Soft Hackle Hare’s Ear: For those tricky sippers who won’t take adults off the top. It also doubles as a mayfly emerger and sits high in the water column with almost no weight. Perfect for emerging and sunken bugs.

Silvey’s Edible Caddis Emerger: A thin profile caddis emerger that can be very effective when swinging flies and triggering movement. The deer hair head also helps to suspend the fly at or right beneath the water’s surface.

Lafontaine’s Sparkle Pupa: Gary LaFontaine’s Sparkle Pupa has been a subsurface staple since the early 1970s. The use of Antron yarn allows the body fibers to trap air bubbles and imitate the “transparent sheath” of emerging caddis pupa.  

MDC Fast Water Dry Flies: Patterns meant to imitate caddis adults skittering or running across the water’s surface–tied with hackles and buoyant materials to maximize floatability and movement.

Goddard Caddis: A high floating classic for heavy water and fast riffles. The spun deer hair body and oversized hackle can take gobs of floatant and withstand numerous eats before needing to be dried out. A fun fly to learn twitching and skating dries.

Elk Hair Caddis: Created in 1957 by legendary fly tyer Al Troth of Pennsylvania, this pattern is a fly box staple due to its simplicity, versatility and buoyancy. Utilizing elk or deer hair for the back wing, it’s also a great fly to consider when looking for durability and visibility.

Puterbaugh’s Foam Caddis: Another durable, high floating classic, developed by the Dean of the Arkansas River, Don Puterbaugh. The combination of elk hair, foam and spun hackle creates a low maintenance pattern that’s ideal for heavier water fish and floating anglers.

MDC Slow Water Dry Flies: These patterns were designed for slower waters and harder-to-fool fish. 

Missing Link Caddis: Developed by Mike Mercer on the west coast, the Missing Link is a low profile pattern meant to imitate cripples, emergers and even egg layers. Many people think the spent wings may be the key to the fly’s effectiveness. 

Cutter’s E/C Caddis: As the “E/C” (emerging caddis) name suggests, this pattern was designed to imitate the transitional phase when the caddis pupa emerges from its shuck. The trailing shuck material, typically Antron or Zelon, may be a key trigger for trout. This fly was clearly modeled after Craig Matthews’ (Blue Ribbon Flies circa 1980) trailing shuck original, the X-Caddis. 

Lawson’s Hemingway Caddis: Mike Lawson’s classic downwing pattern, imitating the folded wings of adults resting on the water. The fly was probably adapted from the Henryville Special, and modified for the picky, cruising trout of the Henry’s Fork in Idaho.

MDC High Visibility Dry Flies: These flies are designed to stand out from the crowd in heavy MDC hatches where caddisflies are matting and collecting.

Bloom’s Parachute Caddis: The high visibility post makes the fly very easy for the angler to track, even in challenging light conditions or faster water.  

Baltz’ Iron-X Caddis: Another variation on Craig Matthews’ classic X-Caddis–a synthetic underwing provides additional buoyancy, while the pink hot spot provides extra visibility.  

Clown Shoe Caddis: Jay Zimmerman’s high visibility pattern that “lends itself well to broken water and dry-dropper rigs, as well as fishing from a drift boat or raft.” 

Hudson Caddis: From fly tyer Adam Hudson, “The orange streak on top of the wing is designed to be lifted vertically and act as a parachute, which makes it easy to track while floating, and the wing underneath can be spliced out to the sides for a wide attention-catching profile; the wings can remain flat for variable presentations and appearances.”

‍Best of the rest: Hi-Vis Elk Hair Caddis (a classic with a bit of flair), Stimulator (not technically a caddis imitation, but close enough), Peacock Caddis (an all-time classic), Elden’s Mother’s Day Caddis (highly accurate imitation), Hackle Stacker Caddis (new slow water pattern with promise).

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