On The Fly
April 2013
"Fly tying is a school from which we never graduate"
TYING NEWS
The Southern Oregon Fly Tyers invite you to attend their meetings the second Tuesday
of each month. The next meeting is April 9, 2013. The meetings start at 6:00 PM, at the Madrone Hill Mobile
Home Park community building near Gold Hill. Bring a friend, come early so you don't miss anything, and
stay late. Tyers need not be experienced, and those with all levels of skill are welcome. Each meeting a
member is encouraged to demonstrate a new or different skill, from simple to difficult. For more
information, call Dan Kellogg at 773-4724.
DIRECTIONS: Take Gold Hill Exit #40, off of I-5 and go west, toward Jacksonville, 1.3
miles, until you reach the brick entrance way to the Madrone Hill Mobile Home Park on the right. You’ll
pass a golf course parking lot on your left shortly after leaving the freeway. After you turn right into
the mobile home park, proceed to the community building which is located about 100 yards ahead on the left.
The address is 8401 Old Stage Rd. Please park your vehicle on the bare dirt in the parking lot to avoid the
wooden septic covers in the grass.
PATTERN OF THE MONTH – R.A.M. Caddis Emerger (aka Serendipity)
Hook: scud style size 10.
Daiichi #’s 1120, 1130, 1140, 1150.
Mustad #’s C068, C53S.
Tiemco #’s 2487, 2457.
I do prefer Daiichi hooks but you can use your favorite hook.
By the way, Jim Ulm told me that he had fished this pattern on March 5
and needed to use a stouter hook (1120) because a steelhead had straightened his hook.
Thread: Use your favorite thread 16/0 to 6/0 black or brown and orange
Body: Antron, Delron, Zelon, wool or dub insect green, tan, brown, amber, chartreuse to match emergers
Legs: (not original, this is my twist) collar of black CDC
Head & wing bud: Black dyed deer hair, clipped short. I like to use about 3 turns of black ostrich on 16
& smaller or dyed black peacock.
By the time this fly comes out in the newsletter, April will be here. All over the country from the Rockies to up and down the Coast and all over the west, the Mother’s Day caddis will start showing. Some of you will remember the days on the Holy Water when it was very prevalent. It’s still there, just not as precise or as long, but you can still sometimes catch it. You can also find it on Hat Creek, the Deschutes and the Upper & Lower Sac.
The caddis has always been the ugly stepchild of our bug world. Gary Lafontaine in his wonderful book “Caddis Flies” (I highly recommend it!) has taught us that the caddis is as important or maybe more important than the mayfly. As a boy of 13-14, I started to run into a gentleman named Ross A Merigold when I frequented the only 2 fly shops in Southern California, Sierra Tackle (Ned Gray’s shop) and Russ Peak’s rod shop (I was tying for both). Ross did not Commercial tie so he taught me to tie his R.A.M. caddis emergers . I found out he was a professor in the winter and a Montana fly fishing guide on his beloved Madison River in the summer. Craig Mathews got permission to tie them for his shop, but Ross insisted he change the name so it came to be the Serendipity. It has changed very little from my early days fishing with Ross on the San Gabriel’s West Fork.
Note: I know Dan Kellogg has brought this fly to you before, but I would like to show a pattern that I have used and some of the history. I can also say that they really work well!
Tips on tying
After getting hook into vise and starting thread on all the way around bend, tie in antron for demo’s or wool sized for hook. Caddis have a little chunkier back of hook I don’t bother. Twist matter tight & wrap forward making a nice segmented body, leaving room for hackle & wing bud. Tie in CDC by tip, fold back & wrap 2 to 5 turns depending on hook size. Stack and clean deer hair if under fur and tie in on top, behind eye and tie off.