Many trout and steelhead fly anglers will tell you there's simply
nothing better than swinging deep pools for big fish! The tug-and-go of
a hungry trout snatching and stealing away with a well-swung bug can
make an angler's day.
Creative fly tyer, Mike Mercer, knows this and has designed his
Tungsten Bead Swing Caddis Brown just for these die-hard swing junkies.
With a heavy bead and webby hackle, this modern fly fishes like a more
traditional spider wet fly pattern. Mercer's Tungsten Bead Swing Caddis
Brown is an awesome imitation of a Tan Caddis in its nymph life stage.
Swing one through your favorite pool -- it's the stuff of fly fishing
legend!
Specifications:
- Mike Mercer designed this fly pattern specifically for swinging in fast water and deep pools when getting low in the water column is the name of the game
- Tan Caddis imitation in the emergent nymph 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 tan caddis pupae and match size and color before offering a fly
- Fish on a dead drift low in the surface film
- This fly is also tremendously effective on the swing through faster water and deeper pools
- The most prolific hatches occur in eastern North America during late summer (August) and through the fall (October)
- SIZE 14
When and Where to Fish Mercer's Tungsten Bead Swing Caddis Brown
This caddis nymph 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. Tan colored caddis and sedges can be active throughout
the year, and are prolific in the northeastern United States from late
summer (August) through the fall (October).
How to Fish Mercer's Tungsten Bead Swing Caddis Brown
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 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. In addition to a dead drifted
presentation, swinging this pattern with a wet fly presentation through
faster current seams and pools can be quite effective.
Tan 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 tan or "pumpkin" colored
caddis available to trout. Most anglers will refer to an olive caddis
as a "Northern Casemaker," a "Cinnamon Caddis," or an "Autumn 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.
Tan Caddis Nymph Life Stage
Caddis are most vulnerable during their pupa and emergent stages,
pupae, emerger, making these nymph, emerger, and cripple stages quite
important to successful trout angling on a fly. Tan 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 emergent nymphs - catching a hatch at just the right time can
render a slow day a fantastic day in a hurry.
About the Tyer: Mike Mercer
Mike Mercer is a self-proclaimed “hopeless fly fishing junkie with an
incurable addiction to the vise.” Such honest and direct words are not
surprising from Mr. Mercer, a fly angler and tyer known for his
innovative uses of fly tying materials and creative fly designs. In
fact, it wouldn’t be off the mark to say his fly patterns actually
reflect both his honesty and directness.
Mercer has been fishing all his life, but catching his first smallmouth
bass on a fly rod blew open the proverbial gates, sending him deep into
the fly fishing world. With the help of his grandfather’s old pickup
truck, Mercer explored the fantastic trout water of California’s rich
wilderness areas. With his youthful enthusiasm for traveling with a fly
rod, he actually opened a fly shop of his own. At Mike Mercer’s Rod and
Fly (doubling as the basement of his parents’ house) a fly fisher could
find a selection of custom fly rods, fly fishing and fly tying
magazines, and Mike himself, behind the vise, whipping up box loads of
custom flies.
As a fly fishing guide, writer, travel consultant, and creative fly
tyer, Mercer has been able to form a unique perspective on the sport
and share it with other fly anglers across the world. His fly designs
have appeared in magazine, in books, and with the help of Umpqua
Feather Merchants, anglers across the globe have been able to fish a
Mike Mercer creation hard and with great success in waters near and
far.
Mercer’s designs often hinge on an idea that “seems obvious” but from a
design perspective, these are often the very best kinds of ideas.
Mercer continues to create great flies and is a tremendous resource to
the fly fishing and fly tying community.
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.”