Iris Caddis

This fly is the bomb!  I was told that the fly was originally developed by Blue Ribbon Flies as a mayfly emerger but it was soon was adopted to fish during caddis hatches.  The most prominent hatching insect during our trip to Montana was caddis flies and this fly cleaned up when ever caddis were on the water.  It proved itself to be a very versatile fly. We fished it up stream and down on a dead drift.  We swung them like wet flies.  We fished them greased up, floating high and dry and fished them soggy and wet under the surface.  Dead drifting or twitching, once you figured out how the fish were feeding it was like taking candy from a baby!

Recipe:
Hook:  Size 15 TMC 102Y (great hook but good luck finding them)
Thread:  Grey or white
Body:  Hares ear zelon mix
Tail (shuck):  Amber crinkled zelon
Wing:  White straight zelon

The fish simply ate this fly, it was a very consistent producer for us on fish both large and small.

Hare's Ear Caddis Emerger

Fish this fly any time caddis are on the water. This fly is a great imitation of a caddis pupae.

I typically tie the fly un-weighted and tie it on my leader with a loop knot to give the fly plenty of action.  Some times I fish it in the film by itself or behind a dry fly.  But more often I fish it as my top fly in a two or three fly nymph rig.  Don’t be afraid to impart a little movement into the fly.  Swinging or lifting at the end of a drift often brings very aggressive strikes.  I have never varied the basic colors of this fly but I will do my best to match the size of the hatching insects.




Recipe:
❖Hook:  Tiemco 200R size 12-18
❖Thread:  Black Uni 6/0  (8/0 for 16’s & 18’s)
❖Ribbing: Flat gold tinsel or gold wire
❖Dubbing:  Hare’s mask or packaged hare’s ear dubbing (I like Hareline Plus #1 Natural Hare’s Ear which is a fur/antron blend)
❖Hackle:  Hungarian partridge body feather
❖Collar:  Black ostrich herl

Tying Instructions:
Tie in thread near eye of hook and wrap to the rear stopping at a point directly over the barb of the hook.
Tie in you tinsel or wire.
Sparsely dub the tying thread with hare’s ear dubbing and wrap forward, leaving space at the front of the hook for the hackle and collar.
Counter wrap the tinsel or wire forward and tie off. At this time I like to throw in a half hitch or whip finish and brush out the dubbing.  You don’t want to do it after finishing the fly because you may damage the hackle and collar.
Tie in a single partridge feather by the tip and make one or two turns at the most (again think sparse, you imitating legs so you don’t need many fibers).  Stroke the fibers back as you wrap so they sweep back over the body.
Tie in the ostrich herl.  You will need two or three feathers for the larger sizes one will do nicely of the smaller ones.  Twist it with your tying thread, wrap forward and tie off.
Build up a neat thread head tie off, apply head cement if you wish and your done