Paul's March 2026 Bonus Fly of the Month

 Dette Caddis

Hook:  Dry Fly Sizes #12-#16.

Thread:  6/0 Tan or Wood Duck. 

Egg Sac:  1 turn of Olive or Chartreuse Chenille.

Body:  Muskrat.

Wing:  Hungarian Partridge feather.

Hackle:  Brown & Blue Dun Hackle trimmed short on the bottom.

This is a classic Catskill Fly.  It was developed to imitate a caddis species that hatches usually in May on the East Coast.  These bugs flutter and skid along the surface of the water.  Try to remember this when fishing this fly.  Sometimes moving your fly or letting it skidder in the water below you can be a very effective technique.  The egg sack at the rear of the body is also a trigger point on this fly.

To start this fly, lay down a thread base along the hook shank.  Next, tie in your Chenille Egg Sac at the rear of the hook shank.  Remove some of the fuzz at the end of the Chenille to expose its center cord.  Tie it in at the end of the hook shank and take 1-2 wraps.  Tie it off and cut off the butt end. 

You are now going to dub the body of the fly.  Create a dubbing noodle with your Muskrat.  Dub the body forward. The rear portion of the body should be heavier      and thicker, tapering down to the front of the fly.  The body should be 2/3rds the length of the hook shank.  This allows you to leave space for your Hackles.  Tie off your dubbing noddle.

 Next, tie your Partridge feather wing to the top of the hook shank.  The wing should extend slightly beyond the bend of the hook.  Clip off the butt end of the feather fibers.  After preparing 2 Hackle Feathers, one Blue Dun and one Brown, tie them in on top of the hook shank.  Wind the first Hackle forward.  It’s recommended that you wrap the Hackle with the thickest stem first.  After ending behind the eye, tie it off.  Next, wrap the second Hackle forward through the first.  After tying it off, trim off the butt ends of the Hackles.  Tie off and whip finish the fly.  Finally, clip the Hackles flat on the bottom.  This allows the fly to sit ‘flat’ on the water, much like an egg laying caddis would. 

Dette Flies has an excellent video below on how to tie this fly:

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .