The caddis have started fluttering and you've probably caught a few fish with some Elk Hair Caddis or younger versions of the bug. But what do you toss when the adult females are diving beneath the water's surface to oviposit their eggs? You toss a Diving Caddis! This fly features the slotted tungsten Spawn Football Bead to get down in a hurry where the fish are waiting. The Spawn UV Simi Seal egg clutch will finish enough of the narrative for any fish to recognize a tasty meal. Thanks for tying along and enjoy the sore shoulder from all the hook sets!
Materials List:
Hook: Daiichi 4647 size 12
Bead: Spawn Football Bead 5.5mm silver
Weighted Wire: NL .020
Thread: UniThread 6/0 Camel
Egg Clutch: Spawn UV Simi Seal Chartreuse Green
Body: Spawn Simi Seal Ghost Shrimp
Rib: Brassie Silver Wire
Wing: Hareline Bleached Elk Hair
Cement: Loon Hard Head
Step 1: Slip a Spawn Football Bead onto your hook with the hook point going through the small hole first. Now secure the hook in your vise.
Step 2: Add 10 wraps of .020 non lead wire to your hook shank. Before sliding the wire behind the bead, it is useful to add a small amount of superglue gel to the wraps that will fit inside the bead. A small amount is all you need. This will help position the bead and prevent turning.
Step 3: Now begin your thread on the hook shank. Use 3 passes back and forth to cover the weighted wire wraps and then take your thread to the hook bend.
Step 4: Add a small amount of Spawn UV Chartreuse Simi Seal and twist enough on your thread to have a thin dubbing noodle roughly 2 inches long. Now wrap your egg sac using three tight wraps back and three wraps forward, repeating this process until you have a tight, secure egg sac. If you try to make a ball of wraps on top of one another your dubbing will be loosened and look nothing like a little clutch of eggs.
Step 5: Now we will tie in our ribbing wire. This should butt up against the rear side of the weighted wire and be tied back all the way to the egg sac. Once it's securely tied in bring your thread toward the hook eye leaving a space roughly two hook eyes in length behind the bead. This is where we will begin our body and will ensure we leave enough room for the wing.
Step 6: Now add enough Spawn Ghost Shrimp Simi Seal to your thread to form a 4 inch dubbing noodle. We will wrap this back all the way to the egg sac and back to our beginning position. If you have some unruly fibers feel free to trim them, but leaving a few scraggly fibers has been known to entice a fish or two.
Step 7:
Now wind your ribbing thread to the front of the fly in 4-5 evenly spaced turns. For this fly the wire won't show much, but it will add a ton of strength and longevity to your bug. Once you've reached the front of the fly tie off the wire, bend it back and trim the excess. If you leave just a bit of material after bending the wire back it provides the perfect little tie down section and prevents the wire from being able to pull free after just a bite or two.
Step 8: Now it's time for the wing. Use a clump of elk hair roughly one half the thickness of a pencil. Clean out the bottom fuzz and stack the hair if you're using a stacker. Tie the clump of elk hair on the top of the fly, which on a jig hook makes it just a bit more interesting. Watch those fingers! Your thread wraps should be overlapping slightly as you keep constant tension and wrap toward the back. If you make 8-9 wraps of thread in this manner and have kept a good pinch in your off tying hand your hair wing will be securely on top of the hook shank every time. Before we trim the hair butts we will take 3-4 turns of thread between the hair butts and the bead. After making those thread wraps return the thread to the thread neck we just made while tying down the wing.
Step 9: Now we can trim the butt ends to sit even with the top of the hook eye. Add two whip finishes and trim your thread. Seal the thread wraps with Loon Hard Head or cement of your choice. This fly not only mimics a very important part in the caddis' life cycle, but it's also a great way to become more comfortable with hair wings. Thanks for tying along and be sure to show us your flies!
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