I lit into a great caddis hatch on the S. Fork of the Ogden River Saturday night and had a great time dry fly fishing in the dark. However, my time would have been even better if I had a good caddis emerge to use prior. We could see the browns taking emergers but alas I had nothing to use. So, I am asking, what is your favorite caddis emerger (I am looking at the sparkle caddis) to use. They were hitting my size 16 cream x-caddis with such force it was awsome. Any patterns, especially those that work on the S. Fork of the Ogden would be great (pictures are welcome). PM me if needed.
I have had some good success with a Caddis or Stimulator on top and dropping a small cream caddis larva below it.
I tie mine with a size 18 or 20 scud hook and use cream colored thread or yarn for the body and a small peacock hurl head. No tail needed.
I am no caddis expert by any means, but I have always had success with an emerger that is tied similar to any dry that is working, only more sparse. For example, if an elk hair caddis with a grey body is working, chances are, a sparsely tied fly similarly will work: a grey body, with short elk hair or partridge hair will work. In fact, often I will take a dry fly and trim it down and sink it, and that will work. I get real simple with caddis emergers: some dubbing to match the color for the body, and some short elk hair or partridge feathers coming out of the head. Also, it is good to use a beadhead of some kind - often caddis emergers will form a bubble around their head or body, and the beadhead kind of imitates that; hence the reason the LaFontaine sparkle caddis sometimes works: it looks like it is encased in a bubble. I have found that a simple beadhead does the trick and is much easier to tie than the bubble of the sparkle caddis.