Phat Bellies Full of Caddis
Posted By Kent Klewein on February 22, 2010
The black stoneflies and black caddis have been coming off for quite a while now on the Toccoa River, and the trout’s stomachs are plump and fat from eating the bugs. Floating the river today we witnessed a significant black caddis hatch. From the lack of rising fish, it was very evident that the trout were feeding on the emergers before they made it to the surface.
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This seems to happen every year for the Mother’s day black caddisfly hatch on the Toccoa River. The water temperatures are in the low to mid 40s and the trout seem to be a little sluggish. They’ve been used to keeping their noses down for the most part looking for food during the winter months which could be part of the reason why we don’t see as many fish rising as we’d like.
However fly anglers need to understand caddisflies are extremely vulnerable as well as other aquatic insects during their emergence stage. Trout know this and would very much prefer to pick them off one by one under the surface to conserve energy. It’s kinda like us hitting the drive-thru on the way home instead of taking the time to cook our dinner. It’s quick and easy.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve caught plenty of trout during this hatch on top with dry flies over the years. The most important factor is being on the river at the right time. My best success over the years fishing the black caddis hatch is after the caddis have mated, and the females are dive-bombing the river dropping their egg sacs. It makes perfect since too, because this stage of the hatch the caddis are coming back to the trout on the surface. Keep in mind some of the female caddis will dive down into the river to deposit their eggs so make sure your fishing a dropper on your rig as well to imitate this. Also during this stage of the hatch, which increases the number of risers, are the considerable numbers of spent caddis floating down the river.
All in all, in my opinion, if you had to choose to fish the black caddis hatch early on or towards the end, I’d try to fish it the latter. There are times when I think the fish completely gorge themselves to their maximum filling and they actually slow down their feeding to digest and make more room for intake. It’s pretty much what I think happened to us today on the river. We didn’t slay them by any means, but the fish we did catch were really nice fish for the Toccoa River. I had a 17-18 inch rainbow towards the end of the day that spit the hook at the end of the fight. The trout we did catch were so full of caddis that they looked like they were fed pellet fish. Where we floated though, there were no houses along the river for more than a mile.
Keep it Reel,
Capt. Kent Klewein Reel Job Fishing, LLC www.kent-klewein.com
EXCELLENT REPORT!!!
You da Man Kent! I always look forward to your reports.
Just trying to keep my friends up to date on the fishing conditions. Thanks Guys
Kent, the recent trip was one of the best ever for me, thanks for getting us on great waters & awesome fish. I definitely know where to head in the winter months and can’t wait to set onto some of that hopper action during the warmer months. Georgia trout fishing is the best kept secret in the South!
Yoon Ho,
Your very welcome man. I’m very happy you had a great time fishing in North Georgia & North Carolina. I look forward to fishing Giant FOAM hoppers with you this summer. Talk to you soon.
Good report, Kent. We fished yesterday and had a bitchin’ time on the water. Looks like dry fly season is HERE!