BirdTrout
Open the map
Orange Sedge Pupa
A emerger, tied #8–12, a fall pattern. It is tied against 1 named insect in this book — September–October.
A weighted emerger tied to represent the pupal stage of the October Caddis, Pycnopsyche spp., an insect on the water in September and October in temperatures between 45 and 58 degrees. It sits on a 2X heavy nymph hook in sizes 8–12, tied with orange 6/0 thread: burnt-orange dubbing ribbed with copper wire for the body, brown partridge for the legs, dark hare's ear dubbing for the wingcase and head, and a few turns of lead underneath to carry it down. The fishing is specific. In October the pupae migrate toward the banks to emerge, so the fly belongs in close rather than out in the current, and of the stages available during this hatch the pupa is the most productive by a distance. Carried in fall, tied for trout.
- #8–12Hook size
- emergerType
- FallSeason
- 1Hatch 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 5 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.
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 | 2X heavy nymph hook, sizes 8–12 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Orange 6/0 |
| Body | Burnt-orange dubbing, ribbed copper wire |
| Legs | Brown partridge |
| Wingcase / head | Dark hare's ear dubbing |
| Weight | A few turns of lead |
When to fish it
October, fished near the banks where the pupae migrate to emerge. The most productive stage of the October Caddis by a distance.
A fall pattern. The insects it matches are active september–october, in water from 45°F to 58°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
- 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
- Abb Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa emerger · #12–18 — The gas-bubble pupa. Fished rising through the swing, which is how caddis actually emerge.
- October Caddis dry fly · #8–10 — Big orange caddis for the last warm afternoons of the year.
- Prince Nymph nymph · #10–18 — An attractor nymph with biot wings. Nobody agrees what it imitates and it does not matter.
- Stimulator dry fly · #8–16 — Attractor and stonefly both. Floats a dropper better than almost anything.