Caddis Flies are also called Sedge Flies and are considered by some to be even more important to fly fishermen than the Mayfly. Varying is size from Microscopic to the size of your thumb, this fly has Four stages of life; egg, larva, pupa, adult. Most of their life is spent in the larva stage, which lasts as long as a year.
The Pupa will crawl up onto rocks, branches, or the shore and emerge as an Adult Fly. Most Caddis Flies only live for a few days but because they have the ability to feed and drink they can live for several days or even several weeks.
The Adults emerge in swarms as opposed to individually. This ensures that they will be able to mate as soon as they emerge. After mating the female will deposit her eggs on the surface of the water or will crawl under the water and deposit the eggs on the rocks and vegetation under the water.
In most cases the Caddis Fly will complete its life cycle in about a year, but in some areas will go into a super hibernation phase in its Larval stage or egg stage and will take a somewhat longer period to complete its life cycle. In some species the female deposits her eggs on vegetation on the shore, and the eggs will not hatch until there is rain. In many cases the female will be swept away by the current after laying her eggs on the surface, providing a handy snack for any local trout looking for food.
The best time for the fisherman to take advantage of the Caddis Fly hatch is in the late Spring or Summer. In some streams there is another hatch in the late Fall.
Some Caddis Fishing Fly Patterns Include:
| Arctopsyche Grandis | Black CDC Adult Caddis |
| Black Elk Hair Caddis | Black Fluttering Caddis |
| Brown Slow Water Caddis | Caddis Tail Fly |
| Canadian Sedge | Clarke’s Deer Hair Caddis |
| Colorado King | Co’s Caddis |
| Cream Saco Caddis | Dancing Caddis |
| Dark Caddis | Deer Hair Caddis |
| Delta Caddis | Delta Wing Caddis |
| Deschutes Caddis | Dun Caddis |
| Elk Hair Caddis | Flat Wing Caddis |
| Ginger Fluttering Caddis | Goddards Caddis |
| Gray Caddis | Gray Caddis Cripple |
| Gray Elk Caddis | Hairwing Caddis |
| Hemmingway Caddis | Henryville Special |
| Kings River Caddis | Micro Suspender Caddis |
| Mitch’s Sedge | Olive CDC Adult Caddis |
| Olive Elk Hair Caddis | Olive Slow Water Caddis |
| Olive Sparkle Caddis | Orange Bucktail Caddis |
| Oregon Orange Caddis | Parachute Caddis |
| Parachute Caddis Buck | Parkany Deer Hair Caddis |
| Peacock Caddis | Penobscot Caddis |
| PM Caddis | Poly Caddis |
| Salmon Candy No. 4 | Skittering Caddis |
| Spent Partridge Caddis | Stillborn Elk Caddis |
| Summer Caddis | Tan CDC Adult Caddis |
| Tan Elk Hair Caddis | Tan Sparkle Caddis |
| Tent-Wing Caddis | Traveling Sedge |
| Vincent Sedge | Wharry Caddis |
| Woodchuck Caddis | Yellow Bucktail Caddis |