The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Hi All, just wanted to say I've followed this awesome board for some time...after a recent move with the wife from Shady Cove Oregon to Mt. Shasta City California...I thought I was now deserving of a post to a California FF board LOL.
I was just wondering what everyone's favorite caddis patterns for Northern California are? After having the chance to tackle the Pit, Upper Sac and McCloud on a regular basis this year..my hands down favorite caddis pattern has to be the Radical Caddis in Brown. I've had insane results on this fly. Distant 2nd and 3rd were the Fox Poopah and LaFointaine Sparkle Deep Pupa. Filling out my caddis box are the green rockworm by Randall Kaufmann and the ever popular Elk Hair Caddis in Olive and Tan. It's a simple selection but with the results I've had with the Radical Caddis I'm certainly got blinders on with my pupa choices LOL. If I could just find a pattern recipe or something on how to tie the Radical....I'd be a happy camper LOL Tight Lines All!

We are in complete agreement, 1, 2, 3.

I agree on the Radical Caddis being #1, and relatively unknown. Rick Fox has a killer bug there. I got the recipe and instructions from Rick a few years ago and I have it "somewhere". When I dig it up I'll post it.

I also use the Tim Fox Tan Poopah and Gary LaFontaine's Deep Sparkle Pupa in cream, VERY regularly, with great success.

Buzz

Buzz,

Find the recipe. I just did a seach on the net and couldn't find it. Cool looking pattern!

I like an X-Caddis, Fox Poopah and a Bird's Nest as my favorites. I watched Kelly Galloup tie the X-Caddis using just about the most efficient tying techniques ever in his shop in Montana, and they work too! Fox Poopah on the U-Sac, and Bird's Nest for Steel on the T. Close behind is the EHC. I've tied a ton of those over the years. I also like the EC Caddis....Ed's pattern is effective as heck.

Those are mine!

Here are the caddis flies that I mostly use.

Dry - EC Caddis, Elk Hair Caddis
Nymph - Fox's Radical Caddis, Anderson's Bird of Prey (regular and crosswire), Bird's Nest, Bill's Stick Caddis, Burk's Bottom Roller.
Wet (soft hackle) - a local tie called "Partridge and CDC" tied by one of the guys at Specialties.

I, too, got my hands on the recipe from Fox a few years ago. I have no idea what I did with it.

Interesting that you live in Mt. Shasta City. Fox regularly guides up on the Upper Sac. If you see some squatty looking dark haired guy who uses the word "dude" every 15 words, you've found Fox.

AB

It doesn't look too tough. The body is glass beads covered with epoxy. My guess would be beads on wire, probably a guitar string, dipped in epoxy. I'd double the guitar string over making sure
not to crease it too tight so the beads would fit tight then dip it in epoxy. The head on the brown pattern looks like ostrich herl and peacock herl on the olive pattern. The body looks like antron with hen hackle and a couple strips of flash. I think I would try crystal hackle or polar chenille instead of antron. Both are pretty much the samething just different lengths. Great stuff.

Here are the exact details I got from Rick Fox:



Hey there Buzz....the pattern is really easy once you get past the epoxy on the bodies. The recipe is as follows:

Hook: TMC or Targus 2457 or even the 2487 (I like the light wire on the 2487) copper or gold bead.

Body: Epoxied medium sized ultra chenille. I use olive and worm brown (the golden brown is nice too). Try some other colors and let me know how they look. For the beaded Radical caddis. I use the small beads from Spirit River in brown and in emerald...those look nice to my eye.....use some other colors also. What I do is cut a length of 0.012-0.015 mono. I burn one end and slip 6 beads (3 beads a body for a size 16 hook) onto this strand of mono and then I burn the other end.....cut the length long enough so you can slip it in one of the slots cut in a Styrofoam cup for the epoxy work.

I've had much e-mail on how to do the Radical Caddis bodies. Whether you construct the bodies out of glass beads or the fine diameter chenille (medium ultra-chenille), the process of adding the 5 minute epoxy is the same. With razor blade in hand, and a Styrofoam cup; I cut slots along the top edge. 10-12 slots in which I can insert a length of chenille or strung beads that will make TWO bodies. So obviously in filling all the 10-12 slots......you can epoxy up 20-24 bodies at a single time. Mix up the five minute epoxy on some paper and use a wooden toothpick. Unlike doing epoxy on the windings of a fly rod......the more bubbles you can incorporate into the epoxy mixture.......the better. If you want to get wild, sprinkle a tiny bit of pearl glitter into the mix.......and just start dribbling the epoxy on the beads or the tapered ends of the chenille (which you taper with a match). Rotate the cup for 5 minutes to get a nice, evenly distributed epoxy body.

Over body: Olive Z-lon (for all the Radical caddis colors)

Topping: 2 strands of pearl Flashabou. then 2 stands of wood duck tied long

Legs: Brown Hen Hackle (for all the Radical caddis colors)

Collar: Really doesn't matter what you use for this simple collar, I just grab whatever that has the same color tones of the body. The Spirit River Pseudoseal works good, it adds some flash to the fly.

Head: For the Green toned Radical Caddis I use peacock. For The brown toned Radical Caddis I use natural ostrich.

Tying Instructions: I do a bunch of bodies beforehand -- secure the body by the mono or un-epoxied chenille to the top of the hook. Obviously leave a bit of un-epoxied area length so you can tie the body down. Then tie in some z-lon, cut slightly shorter than the extended body. Top with 2 strand of Flashabou and the wood duck antennae.

Dub one turn of the collar. Tie in hen hackle on each side, extending to about the hook bend (this single turn of dubbing helps flair the legs outward) then finish off the collar with 1-2 more turns. Finish off the head space with the ostrich or the peacock.

Rick Fox

wonderful stuff guys....i forgot the x-caddis..while i lived in southern oregon..that was a great go to on the metolius. i carried it in a number of colors.