ROBS REALISTIC CADDIS PUPA

Hook: scud hook size 6-12 (daiichi 1120, dai-riki 135, TMC 2457)
Thread: 6/0 , 8/0 chartreuse
Abdomen: latex nymph skin (waspi) natural
Shellback: thin skin (waspi) color to match natural
Legs: partridge, guinea fowl, any feather with distinctive barrings
Thorax: wet fly dubbing Rabbit, opossum, blended squirrel, will do

STEP ONE

Start chartreuse thread at middle of hook and make your way to deep into the bend. This will capture the natural curve of the insect. Next, cut the latex at a graduating angle to give the latex a neat taper. Lance the latex to the hook with tight wraps making your way to where you started the thread (at half way point).

STEP TWO

Now, with moderate tension on the latex, begin to wrap in an open palmer towards the middle of the hook, where the thread is. You should notice as you make your first couple of wraps the latex will leave a grove to lay the next wrap in. As you make your way to the middle of the shank you should have very little tension on the latex. Put two wraps of latex almost on top of each other where tie off point is and whip finish twice, trim off excess. Take a permanent marker and mark to match natural. Personally, I try to give the abdomen a two toned effect by coloring the bottom usually yellow and the top olive. You dont have to lose any sleep if the colors arent perfect because at this point you are going to submerge the entire abdomen in SOFTEX. Remove the excess SOFTEX from the point and barb by poking in a piece of Styrofoam or carefully wiping it off with a Q-tip. If you have done this correctly you will notice the SOFTEX has not only sealed the abdomen but allowed the top color to bleed through ribs into the bottom color. Let the abdomen dry or set up. (NO rotating is necessary as the SOFTEX is self-leveling.)

STEP THREE

After the abdomen has dried, start the thread behind the eye making your way to the end of the abdomen. I actually wrap one or two wraps rite on top of the abdomen as to make a smooth transition between abdomen and the shellback. Next, cut the THIN-SKIN for the shell back. NOTE: The thin-skin must be cut to encircle 180 degrees of the abdomen on the top side. Tie in the thin skin with the dull side down, hanging over the rear of hook. Personally, I tie in the thin-skin at abdomen making my way to the eye and then return the thread to the middle of the thorax. Take a partridge feather in your right hand and with a moisten left index finger and thumb gently stroke the barbs against the direction of their natural position. If you have done it correctly, the tip of the partridge feather should be in its natural position and the rest of the barbs should be opposite as to create a tie in point. Size up the partridge feather so the actual separation point is slightly longer than where the union is. Tie in the feather at mid point making tight wraps towards abdomen. Once at the union of the thorax and abdomen loosely apply dubbing and cover the thorax to slightly behind the eye.

STEP FOUR

Last step. Take the stem of the partridge feather and gently pull it to just behind the eye. With a moisten finger, manipulate the barbs of the partridge along the sides of body. The stems of the partridge feather at this point should be dead center or directly in line with the shank of the hook. Tie off and clip excess of stem. Take hold of the thin skin and pull it towards the eye making sure the legs are forced strait down. Put two loose wraps over the thin-skin and as you draw down on the tension, pull the thin skin straight up as to draw the legs down along the sides. Snip off the excess thin skin and color the thread to match the shell back, whip finish, and apply a bead of SOFTEX to not only the slight crease between the shellback and abdomen, but also along the back down to the bend. DONE!

Color Submissions

1 natural latex nymph skin (waspi)
pantone markers #472 m / chartpak #p31(139)
thin skin brown
squirell dubbing natural
Hungarian partridge (legs)

2 green nymph skin
chartpak redwood #p-69(164)
thinskin black
ice dub olive brown (ICE265)
Hungarian partridge

3 natural latex nymphskin
charpak lemon yellow #p-41(5) / charpak linden green #p-37 (133)
thin skin molted yellow
awesome possom dubbing golden stone(ap121) waspi
olive dyed partridge

4 natural latex nymph skin
pantone 472-m
thin skin brown
squirell dubbing bleached ginger
speckeled brown hen back waspi

5 natural latex nymph skin
chartpak redwood #p-69(164)
thin skin brown
squirrell dubbing bleeched ginger waspi
grizzly/dun hen back waspi

6 natural latex nymph skin
chartpak warm grey #5 p-195 (176)
thinskin brown
grizzly/dun hen back wasp

COMMENTS

Lets get something straight Im not re-defining the wheel nor am I taking credit for patterns I didnt invent. I am just trying to achieve similar results in half the time. My friend Steve Thornton from England turned me on to his Ammonite nymph, which blew me away. The bug is so fishy looking, sexy in guide eyes, and as a fly designer challenging to tie, to say the least. After watching my bud Scott Black actually tie the fly in front of me at the Hartford show I almost immediately started tooling with the idea. Being from the Catskill trained /Eric Leiser school of fly tying, latex was a material that looked lifelike but unfortunately dried out too quickly.

After the Denver show, I was turned on to a Waspi product called Latex Nymph Skin (a thick walled strip of latex) and knew I could figure it out. Due to the thickness of the latex, I could achieve the bulk and ensure the proper segmentation but once again the whole drying out was still an issue.

Fortunately, I am good friends with John Ryzanych (SOFTEX) who some years ago showed me a liquid latex like product that was self sealing, self leveling, and exactly what I needed to completely coat or seal the latex so it wont dry out. So basically after years of tooling I was able to achieve a richly segmented body, made of latex, colored to match the natural, and completely encased or sealed in SOFTEX. No more drying out, NO MORE ISSUES.

TYING TIPS

A: Chartreuse thread is used for one reason; to highlight any colors on the neutral latex. Its like a piece of glass with dark red ink on it. To the eye, it looks black, by putting a light behind it , the dark red ink glows red. Chartreuse thread contains phosphates, hence it glows from underneath.

B: Manipulate the contour or taper of abdomen by controlling the tension of the latex. I start with the first wrap under hefty tension and every wrap up the shank, I lighten up slightly with every wrap.

C: You dont need to be Piccaso to achieve a two toned realistic look . Remember, the colors from the top will bleed into the bottom and smooth out the look.

D: Pre-pairing the shell case can be tricky. First, you can really use anything from reflective mylar, to a plastic bag, as long as it is somewhat pliable. When it comes to the width of the shell case, picture a circle with a straight line thru it bisecting it in half. The top half is 180 degrees, which represents the shellback. If you cut it too small the legs will flare out to the sides. If you cut it too large it will crush the legs together.

E: Try to select a feather for the legs that is roughly from the stem to the tip slightly the same width as the gape give it oversized by one or two hook sizes (example; for a size12 hook, you can use up to a size 8 hackle.)

F: Production is the trick to this fly. I do no less than 6 of the abdomens at one time. I then go back and color all 6 close to the same color or pattern. As I finish each, I slide them on a safety pin and when all 6 are on the pin, I simply sub merge the entire pin into a jar of SOFTEX and remove. You would be surprised how easily the dry SOFTEX peels off the bare hook point and barb (An EXACTO knife I have found to be the best way to almost scrape away the excess.

CLOSING

You will notice after a little practice, you can blow out quite a few flies in a very short span of time. The color schemes and patterning are all up to you so don't be afraid to experiment and use your artistic ability. After all, isnt fly-tying an art? The highlight for a cat like me is opening up a box of Realistic caddis pupas. There's something sexy about large selection of pupas crammed into a fly box. It's no wonder trout find them irresistible almost year round.

"Thank you for encouraging my behavior." -Robert Lewis

Rob’s Realistics | Mt Kisco, NY, | gimmethoseflies@robsrealistics.com
Photos: Charles Betz photography, Chase Jarvis photography, R. Horatio Nailknot, S. Bean Nymphem