Bright Green Caddis Pupa 12/01/2015 Photo Album

I documented my history with the bright green caddis pupa several times on this blog, so I will not repeat it here. This fly is a great producer particularly during the April time period ahead of and during the grannom hatch on Colorado rivers. I experienced particular success on the Arkansas River with this fly. My post on caddis pupa 01/26/2014 provides a solid description of the techniques I use to fish the bright green caddis pupa in advance of the fabled spring hatches.

A View from the Top and Side

During the spring of 2015 I once again failed to intersect with a significant caddis emergence, and consequently the bright green caddis did not produce many fish. This was the second consecutive year in which caddis pupa were not effective flies for me during the period before snow melt in Colorado. Hopefully conditions in the spring of 2016 will reward my ongoing confidence in the emergent caddis pupa imitation.

Resting on Deer Hair

The bright green caddis pupa belongs to the same family of flies as the emerald version. I follow the recipe precisely that is published in Gary LaFontaine’s Caddisflies book on page 40. When I counted my remaining supply of bright green caddis pupa, I discovered that my boxes and bins contained 35. With a goal of carrying 40 to begin the next season, I only needed to manufacture five, and I quickly completed a batch in late November. Hopefully I will be able to encounter more situations in 2016 where the bright green caddis becomes an indispensable weapon to fool Colorado fish.