Comments: At about 6:30 p.m., when I arrived at the stream, the caddis were already flitting about the water's surface. From the bridge I saw that a number of trout were rising. This was quite a thrill to me, and I didn't handle it very well, as I was so excited I fell shoulder first into the stream. I have a suspicion that my entry into stream may have startled the fish a bit, although, after I righted myself and stood there for a while, I saw that they were still rising.
I saw this same hatch a few days before and prepared for it by tying some size 16 and 18 caddis flies with cream hackle and near white deer hair. They looked a little too bright to me.
Sadly, no fish took my flies. Toward the end of the caddis hatch, I saw a few white mayflies in their bobbing, slow flight above the river. They looked just a tad bigger than the caddis and perhaps a shade lighter. There were very few of them, however.
If any of you know good methods to fish during a caddis hatch, I would be happy to learn from you. I never saw any of these flies actually on the surface of the water, yet the trout reached into the air for them. Is there a better approach than casting a dry and letting it dead drift? I am anxious to hear what the experts think. My e-mail is ljsense01@msn.com
Lee Sensenbrenner ljsense01@msn.com