Craig ties his two favourite stick caddis patterns.

Few flies are as simple yet as affective as the stick caddis. When I choose one from my fly box and tie it on, I have a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that this fly won’t work, it is too plain and featureless. Yet the reality is, in the lakes of western Victoria and Tasmania where I do a large amount of fishing, it is one of the most effective flies I use. Its great strengths are, it works equally well throughout the season, and it is very effective on fussy, difficult fish. When there are few hints to how the fish are feeding and the fishing is slow, and/or with the trout behaving lethargically, a stick caddis is one of the first flies I try.

Because the fly is so simple to tie, in this column we are going with two patterns. The first is the Scintilla Stick, created by the well-known fly tier David Dodd. David first tied the fly after talking to fellow columnist Peter Hayes during a fishing session at Millbrook Lakes. Peter showed David a stick caddis he used, making the point that it would be a better stalking fly if it sunk faster. David gave this some thought, and the following day presented the Scintilla Stick to Peter. This fly has gone on to catch thousands of trout.

The second fly is the Dirty Caddis. I came up with this fly when looking for alternative synthetic dubbings to Scintilla as it is getting hard to find. My friend Justin Howlett suggested I should try a product called Dirty Bug Yarn, made by Semperfli. It works extremally well, is available in a range of buggy colours, and helps create the simplest fly you will ever tie.

Stick caddis can be fished in a range of ways. They work well fished under an indicator or buoyant dry fly. When fishing this way, I like to target shores where the wind is blowing parallel to the bank. This enables me to cast across the wind, allowing the flies to bob along with the waves in an enticing manner. The stickies can also be used in a team. When fishing this way, I usually fish the stick caddis on the point in conjunction with a nymph fished off a dropper 1.2m up the leader. My retrieve is a very slow figure-eight.

Stickies are also excellent polaroiding flies, either fished under an indicator, or cast a couple of metres in front of a cruising fish and allowed to slowly sink – watch for the white mouth of an eat. Tactics are similar for early season tailers, only this time, cast a mere metre in front of the trout, which is probably moving very slowly. Leave the fly sitting on the bottom, or suspend it 150mm under a dry fly.

Overall, the stick caddis is an extremely versatile fly, effective for a wide range of fishing applications.

Materials

Scintilla Stick

Hook – Ahrex Nymph size10-12

Thread – Brown 8/0

Head – Yellow suede chenille

Body – Dark brown Scintilla dubbing or similar synthetic dubbing. Play around with different colours.

Dirty Caddis

Hook – Ahrex Nymph size 10-12

Thread – Brown 8/0

Head – Yellow suede chenille

Body – Dirty Bug Yarn (Mottled Dark Green, Pale Olive and Caddis Brown are all good colours to try.)

Tying method

Scintilla stick

1. Carefully singe the end of the suede chenille with a cigarette lighter, then tie in a 3mm head protruding over the top of the hooks eye.
2. Lash down the chenille running backwards 40 percent of the way down the hook shank, and cut off excess chenille.
3. Progress your thread to the bend of the hook.
4. Then create a rope of dubbing and tightly wind to the eye of the hook, creating a slightly tapered body.
5. Whip finish between the head and the hook eye, kicking the head out at a 45-degree angle.
6. Lastly, remove the fly from the vice and hold the head between thumb and index finger, covering the chenille. Gently singe the body with a lighter and roll the body, making it denser.

Dirty Caddis

The same as for the Scintilla Stick, but simply substitute Semperfli Dirty Bug Yarn for the Scintilla dubbing.

For further reading about stick caddis, including stick caddis colour, we recommend this article by Steve Dunn.