Caddisfly Adult

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Caddis overview/
types/larva/pupa /micro

Trichoptera

Stonefly adult  Mayfly adult

These are mothlike insects with 2 pairs of hairy wings that are held "tent" or "roof"- like over the body when at rest.  They have long, slender antenna and no tails.  They live for 1-2 months.  Most are nocturnal, but many are diurnal.

After hatching as adults, the winged caddis waste no time, flying from the water's surface very quickly. As a result, as a general rule, fish aren't used to looking up and seeing caddis on the surface, so fishing with "dry fly" caddis patterns is not consistently productive. It is much easier for a fish to capture the swimming pupa enroute to the surface, or pupa actually emerging in the film, than it is for them to slash and leap for the fluttering adult caddis at the surface. Therefore, the best technique for fly fishing caddis most often is with pupa imitations fished below or in the surface.

Mating of caddisflies usually takes place on the ground or on vegetation (unlike the mid-air ritual by mayflies.)  Swarming prior to mating is common, typically around some "marker" object . . . tree stump, dock, rock, etc. . . . which serves to orient them to mating areas. Unlike mayflies that die after mating, caddis are capable of mating and egg-laying more than once. Egg-laying is performed by females dipping their abdomen, or diving or crawling under the water and attaching eggs to substrate. The sight of "skimming sedges" is common when females fly along the surface and dip up and down to lay their eggs.