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Green Sedge (Rhyacophila spp.)
Caddis, hatching May–August, active in water between 48 and 64°F, and imitated at #12–16. Recorded from the Virginia mountains, where 796 Virginia rivers on this site carry a page.
A caddis defined by its larva, which is bright translucent green and — unusually — free-living, building no case at all until it pupates. Rhyacophila crawls the rocks in fast water without that case, so it is constantly available, and a green caddis larva is one of the most reliable nymphs in a coldwater box; the larva outfishes the adult most days. The pupa forms under a stone and then rises quickly, which is the window for a swung pupa or soft-hackle. The adult is a mottled brown-and-green tent-wing, active at dusk. Peak runs May through August in water from 48 to 64 degrees, covering cold, cold-transitional and cool classes, at hook sizes 12 to 16. A Green Caddis Larva or Green Weenie, both 12 to 16, imitate the larva; a LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa at 12 to 18 covers the rise; an Elk Hair Caddis, 12 to 20, the adult. A Prince Nymph at 10 to 18 rounds it out.
- #12–16Hook size
- 48–64°FWater, active
- May–AugPeak months
- 3Life stages fished
What it is
Caddis · Rhyacophila spp. · larva → pupa → adult
A caddis whose larva is bright, translucent green and — unusually — free-living, building no case at all until it pupates. The adult is a mottled brown-and-green tent-wing.
A free-living larva — no case, bright green, and always available to a trout. The larva outfishes the adult most days.
When it hatches
Peak is May–August. The pale months either side are the shoulder — the app widens a peak by one month in each direction and recommends the bug there, and no further: that widening is bounded so that a bug peaking in May is never offered in August.
peak shoulder not recommended
Water conditions
The band is a water temperature, not an air temperature, and it is the range in which this insect is worth fishing — for a mayfly that is the emergence window; for a scud or a midge it is simply the range trout will still eat one in.
Active from 48°F to 64°F. On this map that is cold, cold-transitional, cool water — the band crosses 2 of the three breaks the river colours use. Breaks at 58, 64 and 70°F.
Stages
What the insect is doing, and what that means for what you tie on.
| Stage | What it is |
|---|---|
| larva | Rhyacophila crawls the rocks in fast water without a case, which makes it constantly available. A green caddis larva is one of the most reliable nymphs in a coldwater box. |
| pupa | Pupates under a stone, then rises quickly. A swung pupa or soft-hackle during the emergence. |
| adult | Tent-winged, green-bodied, active at dusk. |
Matching flies
6 patterns in this book imitate the Green Sedge, across its stages. Which one to tie on follows the stage the water temperature says it is in — the app makes that call on a live reading; this page lists the whole set.
- Elk Hair Caddis dry fly · #12–20 — Floats forever, skates on command, works when nothing is hatching.
- Green Caddis Larva nymph · #12–16 — Bright green free-living larva. In the drift twelve months a year.
- Green Rock Worm nymph · #10–14 — Bright green segmented body, black head, curved hook. Heavier than a Green Weenie and meant to be on the bottom.
- Green Weenie nymph · #12–16 — Chartreuse chenille. Appalachian brook-trout water does not have a better fly in June.
- LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa emerger · #12–18 — The gas-bubble pupa. Fished rising through the swing, which is how caddis actually emerge.
- Prince Nymph nymph · #10–18 — An attractor nymph with biot wings. Nobody agrees what it imitates and it does not matter.
Where to find it right now
The rivers with a page here that sit in this insect's regions, with a USGS gauge reporting water temperature. This list is re-ranked against the reading each gauge is sending now and today's date, so it is live — the fallback below it, if the readings do not arrive, is each river's measured July mean.
- Camp Branch the Virginia mountains · July mean 56.0°F
- Cascades Creek the Virginia mountains · July mean 59.2°F
- Left Prong Wilson Creek the Virginia mountains · July mean 59.2°F
- Lick Block Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 59.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Back Creek the Virginia mountains · July mean 49.9°F
- Big Cherry Creek the Virginia mountains · July mean 49.9°F
- Big Ivy Creek the Virginia mountains · July mean 49.9°F
- Boothe Creek the Virginia mountains · July mean 49.9°F
- Brogan Branch the Virginia mountains · July mean 49.9°F
Regional presence
Regions, not collection records. This insect is recorded from the coarse regions below; nobody has surveyed which named river it has been caught on, and this page will not pretend otherwise.
- northern lower Michigan MI
- the Upper Peninsula MI
- northern Wisconsin WI
- the Virginia mountains VA
- the North Carolina mountains NC
Rivers in these regions with a page here
- Jackson River
- Smith River
- Als Run
- Alum Creek
- Amos Branch
- Anderson Run
- Ararat River
- Auberry Creek
- Back Creek
- Back Creek
- Back Fork
- Back Run
- Baker Branch
- Baldwin Branch
- Baldwin Branch
- Barbours Creek
- Bark Camp Branch
- Bark Camp Branch
- Barkcamp Branch
- Barnard Creek
- Barney Run
- Barterbrook Branch
- Batie Creek
- Battery Creek
- and 772 more
Related hatches
Same family, or overlapping this one's calendar on the same water.
- Little Sister Caddis Cheumatopsyche spp. · Caddis · June–August
- Spotted / Tan Caddis Hydropsyche spp. · Caddis · May–August
- Green Rock Worm / Green Weenie Rhyacophila spp. · Caddis · April–June and September–October
- White Miller Nectopsyche spp. · Caddis · July–September
- Grannom Brachycentrus spp. · Caddis · April–May