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Winter Caddis
(Doliphilodes Distinctus)
Hello Dolly!
Winter Caddis Revisited...
Well the New Year is here and no major snowfall yet. With a friend's report I managed to get my self out for a few hours this morning. Church pool had some great morning action on winter caddis and a few micro stones. The fish were active and I hooked up with three before I left to head up stream and do some nymphing. I brought up two nice fish out of lower Hafford's. ( I learned the name is actually "Hafford's" not "Halford's ), but I will apologize ahead of time in case the old name is wrong. That being said I had a great morning. I have mentioned before that there are only a few fishing spots if any where you can cast to rising trout when Old Man Winter is settling in, and the Farmington River is no exception. Still, if there is open water some of my favorite times to fish is in the winter months. With the great Winter caddis hatches in the morning, the caddis emerger and occasional little winter stonefly dry fishing over the years has left me with some of my more memorable fishing experiences.
The winter caddis hatch throughout the year and are at their heaviest form November until early spring. The way in which these species of caddis hatch is unique to the way you should make your presentation. To catch more fish you must vary the way you work your caddis fly imitation on the water when presented to the trout. The winter caddis is most predominant and found hatching in slower pools just off of faster runs and riffles. Church pool is a good example. The winter caddis make their way to the surface and attempt to emerge but mainly have to poorly swim or make their way to the river’s banks and bushes to finish molting. Many of the females of this caddis species are born wingless leaving them even more vulnerable in the film.
One fact is that this is a vulnerable hatch and it is available as easy pickings to the trout.
For me the best hatches occur on brighter and sunny mornings but this hatch is around all the time early in the day. For the best results your method of presentation should encompass some type of movement within the retrieve of your fly. Most of the time in slower water with a good dead drift over a feeding trout you will hook up. But on occasion, like this morning, the fish were a little more active. This time of year can be a blast to get into some nice sized trout on the Farmington river. Working your fly by slight, slight twitching, swimming or last minute swinging over and across fish that are feeding can be a welcome surprise, especially at the head and tail outs. Today the slight movement of my fly was the key. Most of my hook- ups have been when I was slightly working my fly as opposed to a dead drift. But we all know that can change day to day and it all depends on how active the fish are. The type of winter caddis patterns that work best are emerging styles, wingless females and I always have some tiny winged caddis dries as well. The size of your flies should range from sizes #20 to #28 and use your 6x, 7x, and smaller if you prefer.
So don't let the frigid Old Man get you in his grip. I got out today from a good report and plan to get out again soon. So check the weather channel, dust off your fly rod & reel and make your way to the river. Maybe I’ll see you there.
Tightlines’ Shawn