I believe one of the reasons Dons Honeybug Inchworm is so effective is that it also imitates a Caddis larva,
Caddis are usually thought of as a freestone creek creature but some do appear in spring Creeks.
There are Caddis of all colors and sizes Caddis have wings like a Mayfly, they lay eggs, which develop into the aquatic version of the bug. The aquatic version changes to an adult, mates, deposits eggs and dies like a Mayfly.
Caddis eggs develop into larva. Larvae are wormlike aquatic versions of the caddis. 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.
About three weeks prior to emergence, they 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, and 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.
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In May look for these guys in your Spring Creek
Spotted SedgeHydropsyche alternan
net spinriffles, runs
Olive SedgeRhyacophila abosalis
freeriffles, runs
Little Black CaddisDolophiloides nigrita, Chimarra atterina
net, finger netriffles, runs, flats