The life cycle of caddisflies, with Thomas Ames

The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

James Hathaway

Bass, Fishing, Bonefish, Wilderness, Flyfishing, Trout, How To, Steelhead, Bluegill, Fly, Orvis, Sports, Salmon, Panfish, Education, Rosenbauer

4.8 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2023

⏱️ 102 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we go into great detail about the life cycle of caddisflies and the various species found in the eastern United States. Tom Ames [33:05], author of the book Caddisflies is my guest and although we go into great detail on the various types of caddisflies, don't let it overwhelm you, as imitating these insects is merely a matter of observing what stage of their life cycle is present and what the trout are eating. It's not something you can predict in advance—you need to arrive at the river and then figure out the puzzle by your powers of observation. But this podcast does get geeky so be prepared!

Our Fly Box questions this week are much more basic, a good counterbalance to our discussion of caddisflies. Questions and tips include:

I want to go beyond my typical attractor patterns and match some hatches. What basic flies do you recommend?

A great tip from a listener on fixing rough fingertips for fly tying

Tom's thoughts on the Murdich Minnow fly

What three lines should I get for fishing lakes?

Why don't more people wear PFDs?

What color of Clouser Minnows should I get for smallmouth bass?

Can I tie my second Euro nymph fly onto the bend of the other fly, or can I leave a tag end long on the knot to the first fly and use that?

Several rod selection questions

Can I double haul with my bamboo fly rod?

Is it a good idea to pinch the line against the cork to put added pressure on a running fish?

Tips from a listener on wearing felt boots on a trail and drying out wading boots.

What rod is best for practicing my casting skills?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi and welcome to the Orvis Fly Fishing Podcast. This is your host Tom Rosenbauer. And
0:16.3	this week the podcast is all about Catas Flies. I asked author and photographer and long
0:25.8	time fly Fisher Thomas Ames to join us today. Tom wrote a book a number of years ago called Catas Flies
0:33.2	and it's based on the Eastern species of Catas Flies and although Tom modestly claims that he
0:42.8	doesn't know much about Western species of Catas Flies. In my experience the various types of
0:50.8	Catas Flies behave about the same way no matter where you are in the world. So I think this podcast
0:58.3	on Catas Flies could be applicable to someone fishing for trout anywhere in the world and be prepared.
1:06.3	This one gets pretty geeky and there's some Latin thrown around. Tom loves his bugs and he studied
1:14.8	these species in great detail but although it gets kind of complicated don't worry too much if
1:22.9	you don't follow everything and don't let it scare you away. It's not that complicated and if you
1:31.6	are an observant angler you'll be able to figure these things out but I think having some knowledge
1:38.0	about the life cycle of the Catas and the different types is very important. So hope you enjoy the
1:43.7	podcast. But first let's do the fly box. Let's try to answer some questions and if you have some
1:53.1	questions for me you can send them to podcast at orvis.com and you can either just type your question
2:01.4	in your email or you can attach a voice file and if I can answer the question and I feel that it's
2:08.3	something that will benefit other listeners I'll read it on the air and let us start the fly box
2:17.7	with an email from Isaac. I've been fly fishing for a body year now in Tennessee. I just recently
2:25.1	got into tying flies. I've learned how to tie the flies I normally use like chubby Chernobyl's
2:30.3	squirmy worms but I'd like to get more in depth. Are there any patterns you recommend I learned
2:34.9	maybe one pattern for each hatch? I love the podcast and always listen on my way to a fishing
2:40.4	drip. Thanks for all your help. I hope to hear back from you. So Isaac it's really difficult to
2:46.4	narrow it down and in general I recommend that people you know investigate the rivers they're
	...

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