I know it’s not a Caddis pattern but I needed a break the other day and was searching youtube for the usual fly fishing distraction when I came across a video from Frank Smethurst. He ties a midge pattern that peaked my interest. This thing has it all, it looks buggy as hell, it’s easy to tie, I’ve got all the materials and it has me pumped for the frozen tundra and midge season that’s coming soon. I love the use of the under-feather and it had me looking my hackle stash over for other varieties of under-feather, some of the smaller pheasant tail feathers around the rump contain excellent under-feather for this use. Most of your capes are going to have some of this under-feather on the larger hackle feathers. This is the only and best use I’ve seen for this material to date, the down side you ask? I’m now going to have a hard time tossing those “useless” feathers after I’ve used the palatable hackle, I’m sure in a few years I’ll have a box brimming with nothing but the butt ends of hackle feathers, a testament to my obsession. I hate waste and this fly is a great “waste material” fly. I looked through my waste pile of  material trimmings and found enough spare materials off the bat to tie a half dozen.

Under-Feather Midge

• Hook: #18-22 1X Short Scud Hook
• Thread: Red 70 Denier UTC
• Body: Stripped Peacock Herl
• Wings: Pearl Krystal Flash
• Thorax: Under-Feather

Another anti-waste aspect of this fly is the stripped peacock herl. After reading a post from Switter’sB a year or so ago I’ve used only the herl on left side of my peacock quills for the fullness leaving several quills with the right side fully intact, now I have a good reason to strip those lengths of herl down to form quill bodies. I know there are chemical methods to strip the fibers off the quill but I’m not one to jump to chemicals if I don’t have too. A bit of my time and fingernails did just fine stripping the quills clean. I should also note that I used Zap-A-Gap to coat the herl body ensuring longevity. Always wanting to try my own variations I also fooled around with two colors of goose biot bodies, I love the look of a biot body. Check the video out, I enjoyed it.

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I’ve decided that next season needs to be the season of the Caddis. An intriguing little bug, we have so many varieties that have unique traits, they truly blow the complexity of the mayfly out of the water and as such I need to spend more time learning about and exploring the Caddisfly this coming season. If you combine the fact that Caddisflies are a more prevalent and probably more important food source for trout with the fact that many anglers fish the classic Elk Hair Caddis pattern nearly year round hatch or no hatch from East to West and have great success is enough of a reason for me to focus on them this tying season.

Personally I like the X-Wing style pattern that leaves out the palmered dry fly hackle allowing the body of the fly to sit in the surface film. Here I’m tossing in an under-wing of a single and in some cases half a Natural Dun CDC Puff before adding the Deer/Elk Hair wing. I’m hoping it adds to the appeal of the fly as it drifts in the surface film, maybe trapping a few air bubbles. I’m also looking for good searching patterns. I plan to tie several searching Caddis patterns and force myself to fish them with confidence knowing that the trout are there and they will rise. I tied this first dozen on a #16 Mustad R30 and plan to do the same in a variety of body/wing colors in sizes #12, 14 and 18 as well.

It’s been over a month since my vise saw a hook, things have been packed tightly away and stuck in the corner. Over the past few days I’ve spent a bit of time here and there putting everything back in its place. To make sure I can still tie up a few I passed on the dry flies for the time being and started simple with a traditional Pheasant Tail Nymph, something easy to get the vise warmed up and the thread spinning. I used a light olive wood duck feather to form the tail/body/wing case and a new dubbing blend I picked up a while back to form the thorax. I moved to a larger #12 Golden Stonefly Nymph pattern that I’ve been meaning to get into my box for larger trout water. A half dozen of each was just enough time at the vise to get things loosened up, I’ll be spending quite a bit of time hanging out behind the vise over the next couple of months.

It was a busy month. We used our time before snowfall to get used to the new place and prep for the eventual reality that is winter in Minnesota. We survived our first bought of nastier weather after a category 3 hurricane struck most of Minnesota. Seems weird to hear but the barometric pressure registered that of a cat. 3 not too long ago setting a new record for the state, had the winds been over water they would have been much worse. I got a good idea of everything that could move, wasn’t nailed down or secured somehow. Liz and I began exploring the state park that happens to be rather close to where I sleep. Hiking trails with a beautiful view of the Mississippi river are not far and I’m thinking the snowshoes will get a good work out this winter. Despite the busy schedule an Iowa run was seen almost two weeks ago. A short run arriving earlier in the morning and fishing until 2pm. Beautiful weather with Brown’s actively feeding, most took my #18 Orange Scud. I was a bit disappointed to see two new beaver dams slowing things down on a stream that had none last year. If time permits I may find myself crossing the southern border again before too long. My tying room is coming along, I basically get an entire room to house my madness. Things need to be pulled from boxes but a few evenings and I’ll have the factory up and running again. Look for more from the fly factory soon, I’ve got some off-season tying to catch up on. Thinking dry flies for next season…

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