Bodkin / Patterns

Goodspeed's Evolved Sparkle Pupa Caddis

Nymph · Trout · Intermediate · 1 version

Classic Recipe

  • Hook curved caddis/scud hook (barbless), #12-18
  • Thread match body (olive, green, or tan) 8/0 (70 denier)

Materials

  • Bead Tungsten bead (gold or black) (1, sized to hook)
  • Trailing shuck/gas bubble Sparkle emerger yarn (Antron) (sparse tuft, halo around body)
  • Underbody Caddis-green/olive dubbing (dubbed)
  • Body/sparkle sheath Antron sparkle yarn picked over the body (loose halo)
  • Collar Dark brown or black dubbing (small)

How to tie it

  1. Slide a tungsten bead to the eye so the pupa sinks and rides right.
  2. Tie in a sparse tuft of Antron sparkle yarn at the bend as a short trailing shuck.
  3. Dub a caddis-green underbody over the back two-thirds of the shank.
  4. Distribute Antron sparkle fibers loosely all around the body and pick them out into a translucent halo, this imitates the shimmering gas bubble of an emerging caddis pupa (Gary LaFontaine's key insight, which Joe Goodspeed 'evolved').
  5. Dub a small dark brown or black collar behind the bead to suggest the head and legs.
  6. Whip finish; the sparkle halo catching light is the whole trigger of this fly.

Tying videos

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