Caddis or Dragon Fly (earth tones, flash and big eyes)

This is a pattern that can pass for a Caddis Pup or Dragon Fly Nymph. Above, it is tied on a size 8 hook (the shank has a slight bend), I dubbed a blend of dark olive, medium olive and light brown (blended in and old coffee bean grinder). I twist the dubbing onto the thread (as opposed to a dubbing loop) and wrap the dubbing forward to form an abdomen. I wrap a gold tinsel ribbing forward 3/4ths. up the body. Then I turn the fly over (rotary vise or turn upside in a fixed vise) and tie in on the underside dark deer hair or elk hair, which trails just to the end of the hook’s length. An optional piece is turkey or crow feather fibers tied on the sides and underneath but only extending half way back. I then tie in short partidge feather fibers on the sides (they should contrast to the earth tones). The plastic dumbell eyes (you could use heavier but it would the flip fly over). Now dub with the same dubbing the thorax area to cover up your tie in spots for the wings and end point of tinsel/ribbing. Wrap the dubbing up and around the eyes, keeping the dubbing sparser as you wrap around the eyes so as to not obscure the eyes. If I skip the underwings and keep the wing like materials to the sides, this is a great dragon fly pattern too. I have fished it in stillwaters as is and it still performs…the silhouette and presentation being equally important. I have not experimented with different colors as this is how I originally found the pattern tied..I do not weight the pattern, but if I did, it would be on the shank as opposed to heavy eyes.