May Caddis for Spring Creeks
Caddis are usually thought of as freestone creatures but some do appear in spring creeks.
Caddis come in all colors and sizes. have wings like a Mayfly and lay eggs which develop into a wormlike phase called larva. Some larva build cases out of sand and stone, some from wood and other aquatic vegetation, some spin webs, others are free living.
Larva grow the most in the weeks prior to emergence. I believe one of the reasons Dons Honeybug Inchworm is so effective is that the fish take it for a caddis larva,
About three weeks prior to emergence, the larvae seal themselves inside of an immobile pupal chamber and transform to a pupa. At the end of the three weeks, the mature pupa (pharate adult) cuts its way out of the shuck and heads for the shore or the surface.
Some pharate adults crawl ashore, (at these times you’ll find fish feeding in very shallow water) others form an air bubble and use it for buoyancy, they ascend rapidly, pop through the surface film, and take off. This can drive fish nuts! TIME TO USE THE LEISENRING LIFT! Many times when you see fish clear the water, they are chasing pharate adults. This is a time when wet fly fishing and dry fly fishing merge. You use a pupa pattern but add floatant! (I like a product called Frogs Fanny. It floats the fly like a cork and provides wonderful bubbles).
The adults go to the vegetation, (in England they call them sedges because they go to the sedge grass). They will feed for a week or so as their eggs mature. The adult’s will then head back to the water, deposit their eggs and die. When there is a preponderance of adult caddis on the surface, they are usually dying spent adults. (Fish them with a twitch).
Many folks came into my shop enthusiastically asking for Black Caddis patterns because they see black caddis flying over the water. The problem is these bugs are over the water, not on it. Black Caddis crawl into the water to lay eggs.
In May look for these guys in your Spring Creek