Holy Grail Caddis Pupa

by Matt O'Neal of Savage Flies: Find him on his YouTube channel at Savage Flies

There is certainly no shortage of caddis pupa nymph patterns out there. With or without bead heads. Flashy ribbed, or no rib at all. There are still plenty with natural bodies like our forefathers of the sport tied and fished, and some with modern synthetic vinyl bodies.

If you’ve ever wondered why there are so many available to us, it’s got to be because in one form or another, they all catch fish.

This month’s pattern is one of the more recent to come along and as tied here, it could be considered a general attractor nymph as much as a caddis pupa. With a full collar hackle of natural partridge, it’s almost remeniscent of an old North Country Spider.

So what exactly does a long-legged nymph with a caddis pupa profile imitate? I suppose we’ll never know for sure, but there’s no question, lots of fish have been fooled because it simply looks like a buggy piece of food.
 

It’s a simple tie that calls for no exotic materials. I would say the most distinguishing feature, other than the basic pupa profile, is that the bead is tied a full bead’s width behind the eye, and the partridge is wrapped in front of the bead.

Tie it with a bright colored thread and you’ve got a built-in hotspot at the head. If you ever ply your trout or panfish waters with buggy nymphs, you can’t go wrong with a row of these in 

Hook: #12-16 curved shank
Bead: 2.4 mm
Thread: Red
Rib: Opal or pearlescent tinsel
Body: Hare's mask dubbing
Wingcase: Pheasant tail fibers
Hackle: Partridge