When it comes to fly tying in the Western United States, who's the king
of the cripples? Nine out of ten would probably say, "Mike Lawson"
without skipping a beat.
Lawson, a serious professional angler and fly tyer who literally grew
up on the ranging trout water of Southern Idaho's Henry's Fork, has
always touted the effectiveness of fishing the cripple stage of a
hatch. So it's no surprise that he's designed and marketed a band of
wicked cripple patterns over the years.
Lawson's Caddis Emerger Olive Caddis is a superb imitation of an olive
caddis in the cripple life stage. With its long trailing shuck, stunted
hair wing, tapered body and big, dark head, when it's in the drift,
opportunistic trout can't leave it alone.
Specifications:
- A superb crippled caddis imitation from Mike Lawson, one of the top anglers in the Western United States
- Olive Caddis imitation in the cripple life stage
- Use as either an impressionistic searching fly or as a realistic imitation when matching the hatch
- Check under rocks and streamside debris for dark caddis pupae and match size and color before offering a fly
- Fish on a dead drift low in the water column
- Always observe at what depth in the water column the trout are feeding and match swinging and drift depth accordingly
- Hatches can occur throughout the day across North America
- The most prolific hatches occur in eastern North America during May, while the western watersheds see two stages of activity from April to May and July to August
- SIZE 16
When and Where to Fish Lawson's Caddis Emerger Olive Caddis
This caddis cripple can be fished as either an impressionistic fly
pattern when searching for trout or as a realistic imitation when
matching the hatch. There are literally thousands of highly localized
species of caddis native to lakes, streams, and rivers across the
globe. With so much variation it's often a best practice when fishing a
caddis hatch to match color and size of the local species as closely as
possible rather than worry about imitating a single specific species.
This fly is highly effective in medium to high energy well-oxygenated
water; riffles, runs, tailouts, and current seams are prime real estate
for this fly. Olive or green colored caddis and sedges can be active
throughout the year.
How to Fish Lawson's Caddis Emerger Olive Caddis
Fish this fly low in the surface film on a dead drift. Before you make
a cast, check underneath rocks and streamside debris for wriggling
pupae, and match your offering to the size and color of these pending
emergers. Use common swinging strategies and make sure to observe the
depth at which the trout are feeding on emergers and cripples within
the water column and match your dead drift presentation to that depth.
Typically, early in a hatch, trout will feed on emergent caddis just
above the riverbed. As the hatch wears on, however, these trout will
often key in solely on the emergers and crippled emergers at or just
below the water's surface. Swimming the fly at the end of the drift can
also help to induce a strike from a feeding fish.
Olive Caddis
Caddisflies are relatively large aquatic insects that provide hungry
trout with an excellent source of nutritional protein. There are
literally thousands of species of caddis across the globe so it's often
helpful to generalize caddis by their color and size; an angler would
have to have a thousand fly boxes to match every local species of
caddis.
Not surprisingly, there are many species of darkly colored or black
caddis available to trout. Most anglers will refer to an olive caddis
as a "Green Caddis," a "Dark Blue Sedge," or a "Zebra Caddis," which
are most of the time probably not wrong, but are just as often not
right. Again, the important elements of caddis imitation are size and
color, not species-specific foolery.
Caddis, unlike mayflies and stoneflies, undergo complete metamorphosis,
experiencing larva, pupa, and adult stages within a typical life cycle,
rather than just a single nymph stage. During the larval stage, caddis
look like tiny, segmented worms. These wormy creatures are classified
as either cased caddis larvae or free-living caddis larvae.
Ideally, caddis emerge from their pupal shuck as quickly as possible as
they are extremely vulnerable when hanging in the surface film. Once
the winged adult caddis has fully emerged, it continues to act with a
keen sense of urgency, wasting no time to flitter from the water's
surface and to the safety of nearby trees and stream-side vegetation.
Adult caddis live significantly longer winged lives than mayflies and
will spend up to two or three full weeks away from the water. When
they're finally ready to mate, males will gather near their home water
to form a swarm. Females will join the swarm to have their eggs
fertilized. Once the mating process has been successfully completed,
females will deposit their eggs on the water's surface, propagating the
species.
Olive Caddis Cripple Life Stage
Caddis are most vulnerable during their pupa and emergent stages,
pupae, emerger, making emergent and cripple stages quite important to
successful trout angling on a fly. Olive or green caddis, like most
caddis types or species, emerge quite rapidly, spending as little time
in this most vulnerable stage as possible. Therefore, it's extremely
important to recognize when trout are focusing their selective feeding
on these crippled emergers - catching a hatch at just the right time
can render a slow day a fantastic day in a hurry.
About the Tyer: Mike Lawson
For four generations, Mike Lawson’s family has called the dramatic
country of Southern Idaho home. With the picturesque and legendary
Henry’s Fork quite literally running through his back yard, it’s no
surprise that Mike Lawson has become the world’s leading expert on
plying these waters with a fly, in search of big, beautiful, and
healthy trout.
Lawson has made a wonderful career for himself as a professional fly
fisherman. His life’s work has taken him beyond his home water to New
Zealand, Patagonia, Alaska, and other far-flung destinations. At home,
Mike has worked hard to develop effective techniques and fly patterns
for Southern Idaho’s beautiful stretches of fly water. He has also been
extremely active in conservation efforts throughout the western United
States. His writing is lucid, his love of fly fishing enormous in
scope, and his contributions to the sport are deep. Mike has been
guiding as a professional since the 1970s and he has been a
professional fly designer with Umpqua Feather Merchants for nearly as
long.
Leland on Umpqua
In 1972 a man
named Dennis Black and his fly tying skills found themselves in high
demand. Mr. Black, then a professional production fly tyer, was famous
in the industry for his unsurpassed skill and speed with whipping up
tremendously beautiful and precisely constructed flies. It wasn’t long
until this young fly tying superstar realized that he ought to take his
consistent approach to quality to the next level. Shortly after this
realization, a small army of fly tyers had banded together to support
Mr. Black’s vision. With the likes of Dave Whitlock, Jack Dennis, and
Andy Puyans, Mr. Black was officially in business.
Dennis Black’s new
company Umpqua Feather Merchants quickly extended its reach and fly
production capabilities with expansion into India, Sri Lanka, and
Thailand, where the world’s first and full blown “fly tying factories”
were built. Since those early days, only the highest standard of
excellence has marked Umpqua and this commitment to quality and
efficiency continues to spur the company forward. Dennis Black’s
innovative vision for “fly production” has truly revolutionized how the
fly industry operates and has ultimately made the majority of
production flies better. From the first “royalty system” for rewarding
the most creative professional fly tyers to streamlining production
systems and offering a range of other products, Umpqua Feather
Merchants just seems to “do it all.”
Today, Umpqua Feather Merchants
is without a doubt the world’s best and most prolific supplier of hand
tied fly fishing flies as well as fly tying hooks and materials, and
they recently got better! Umpqua’s brand new, state of the art
headquarters in Louisville, Colorado marks another paradigm shift in
the way fly tying business is done. From its vast warehouse to its
specially designed inventory management and tracking system, Umpqua is
poised to continue its energetic trajectory and lead the way for the
next generation of flies and fly tyers.
Umpqua on Umpqua
"As
you may or may not know, we're the largest producer of quality
hand-tied flies in the world. We also make available through your local
fly shop a wide array of the finest fly-tying hackle and Tiemco hooks.
At Umpqua we offer everything the angler needs to a have a first
class fishing experience. (Everything that is, but the water and the
fish.)"
Umpqua on Dennis Black and the “Obvious Quest”
“The
idea first took shape in the hands of our founder, Dennis Black, back
in 1972. As a fast and facile professional fly tyer, Dennis was known
for his skill and speed at producing hundreds of dozens of flies each
year for the larger mail order houses. But he was also quick to realize
how fast the demand for excellent flies would outstrip the abilities of
cottage industry types like him.
The Obvious Quest: To create
excellent flies in sufficient supply – without sinking his standards.
In response, Dennis developed (with characteristic care) a methodical
plan: First, he enlisted the tying expertise of the likes of Dave
Whitlock, Jack Dennis, Andy Puyans and others, to help him set the
standard of excellence for Umpqua flies.
Next, Dennis established the
first of what would eventually be five separate fly-tying “factories,”
first in India, then in Sri Lanka, and finally in Thailand. The primary
focus at each of these factories was on producing the very best fishing
flies possible, constructed of the very best materials available. From
the beginning, the quantity of flies produced was secondary to the
quality and excellence of each fly pattern. These high standards were
assured by the personal involvement of the fly designers themselves,
and by the ever-increasing skill, imagination and creativity of the
Umpqua production fly tiers. Today, you will find no flies more
skillfully tied than those available from Umpqua Feather Merchants.
Finally, Dennis created a system of royalty payments, to reward
professional tyers like Whitlock, Lefty Kreh, Randall Kaufman, Larry
Dahlberg, and Bob Popovics for uniquely good patterns.
The Result:
Today, Umpqua produces umpteen thousand dozen flies, from micro-scopic
midge imitations to the huge patterns favored by marlin and sailfish.
And the "Umpquality" – you’ll see for yourself.”