LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa

A emerger, tied #12–18, carried year round. It is tied against 5 named insects in this book — April–September. Gary LaFontaine, Caddisflies, 1981.

An emerger built around a gas bubble, tied on a standard wet or dry hook in sizes 12–18 with brown 8/0 thread. The underbody is bright dubbing — green, amber or tan — and over it goes a loose Antron yarn sheath that traps light and holds the gas-bubble effect; sparse brown hackle fibres suggest legs, and dark dubbing forms the head. Gary LaFontaine introduced it in Caddisflies in 1981. It is tied against the Grannom, Brachycentrus spp., April into May at 48 to 58 degrees; the Green Sedge, Rhyacophila spp., May through August at 48 to 64; and the Spotted or Tan Caddis, Hydropsyche spp., May through August at 55 to 70, and it stands in for caddis generally as well. Trout are the fish. It is swung or dead-drifted just under the film during an emergence, rising through the swing, which is how caddis actually leave the bottom. Carried all season.

#12–18Hook size
emergerType
AllSeason
5Hatches 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 6 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.

The bubble is the pattern. A caddis pupa rises inside a envelope of gas and LaFontaine's sheath of antron is an attempt at that, which is why it is tied loose and translucent rather than tight. Drawn at #16 — 7.0 mm of shank and 3.5 mm of gape on a Tiemco 100.

The bare hook at every size this pattern is tied in, all to the same scale. There is no industry standard behind a hook number, so these are Tiemco 100 measurements and another maker's 12 will differ a little.

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.

It is also tagged for caddis generally.

Tying recipe

In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades; Gary LaFontaine, Caddisflies, 1981. — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.

Hook	Standard wet or dry hook, sizes 12–18
Thread	Brown 8/0
Underbody	Bright dubbing — green, amber or tan
Overbody	Antron yarn sheath, loose, gas-bubble effect
Legs	Sparse brown hackle fibres
Head	Dark dubbing

When to fish it

Swung or dead-drifted just under the film during a caddis emergence. The Antron sheath is imitating the gas bubble the pupa carries up.

Carried all year. The insects it matches are active april–september, in water from 48°F to 74°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.

Related patterns

Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.

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