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Foam Inchworm
A terrestrial, tied #12–16, a summer pattern. It is tied against 2 named insects in this book — May–September.
- #12–16Hook size
- terrestrialType
- SummerSeason
- 2Hatches matched
What it looks like
A drawing, not a photograph, and not traced from one. Its proportions were read off 5 independent reference photographs of the pattern and written down as 4 measured characteristics — wing angle, tail length against the shank, how far a hackle fibre reaches — every one of which had to hold across more than one of them before it could be drawn. What survives across many photographs of a fly is the fly.
What it imitates
Each of these is the same hatch record the app's own panel reads, so a pattern recommended on a river card in the app is recommended for one of the insects below.
- Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae · May–September · 55–75°F · #8–14
- Inchworm Geometridae · May–June · 50–68°F · #12–16
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | Standard dry-fly or curved hook, sizes 12–16 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Green 8/0 |
| Body | A length of bright green foam cylinder, tied in at both ends |
When to fish it
Cast tight to overhanging hardwood and let it drop in. The natural arrives from above rather than from upstream, and the fish know it.
A summer pattern. The insects it matches are active may–september, in water from 50°F to 75°F.
Target species
- Trout
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Escanaba River the Upper Peninsula · July mean 68.3°F
- Saint Croix River northern Wisconsin · July mean 77.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Black Foam Ant terrestrial · #14–20 — Floats low, which is how a real ant sits. Small water, tight to the bank.
- Foam Beetle terrestrial · #12–18 — Black foam, a bit of flash on top. The most reliable summer dry on wooded streams.
- Woolly Worm terrestrial · #8–14 — Chenille body palmered with hackle. Older than most of the flies it sits next to, and still the caterpillar pattern.
- Black Cricket terrestrial · #10–14 — Late summer into October, after the hoppers thin out.
- Cinnamon Flying Ant terrestrial · #16–20 — Carry a few in late August. When the fall happens nothing else will do.