Stick caddis make a large part of a trout’s diet in lakes and ponds, much more so than the flying caddis we emulate with the elk hair caddis or other patterns. There is no better fly for sight casting to cruising brown trout, particularly when you are setting a “trap” for a fish by moving ahead of it and casting the slow sinking stick caddis into its path.
Trust us, this fly will rarely get ignored and will fool the most wily of large browns.
Scintilla Stick Caddis – Materials List
- Tiemco 3769 hook (or equivalent) in size #10 to #14
- Brown scintilla dubbing or equivalent (I’ve used brown antron sparkle dub here).
- Yellow micro chenille
Sctintilla Stick Caddis Tying Instructions
Step 1
Step 2
Tie on some yellow micro chenille leaving an overhand about 1/8th of an inch. Bring the thread back to a position above the barb.
Step 3
Twist on some antron fibres to form a medium-sized dubbing rope. This doesn’t need to be as tight or thing as in a standard nymph. You can make it a bit buggy as we’ll be singeing it with a cigarette lighter and it will shrink down!
Step 4
Dub forward to just behind the eye to create a slightly tapered body and whip finish between the chenille and the hook eye.
Step 5
Holding the fly by the tag of the chenille pass it over the lighter flame quickly and rotate it to evenly heat it. You want to singe it slightly to get the right look for the body emulating the case of the caddis without melting it too much.
Step 6
Then holding on to the body of the fly melt the chenille back so only a small amount is peeking out of the body like the caddis grub emerging from the case. be careful not to burn off too much!
