D-Rib Caddis Larva

Tan/Chartreuse Caddis Larva

Hook: TMC 2488, Dia-Riki 125 size 12-16
Thread: Uni 8/0 or UTC 70, color to match body.
Body: Hareline D-Rib, medium
Wingcase: Scud Back or Thin Skin, black
Thorax: Black ostrich herl or dubbing picked out for legs

This is one of my new favorite patterns for the Arkansas River. It has worked well for me over the last few weeks. I sometimes put a bead on this, but it works just as well without. I do add weight onto the leader to get it down, or I trail it behind a tungsten beadhead nymph. I pumped a few fish earlier this year and they had a ton of these free living caddis in them. Most were a tan or cream color with others being a dirty olive. I have fished the tan more than the chartreuse and have had better success with it so far. I plan to tie some a little smaller to have for the South Platte hatches later this spring.

Arkansas River 04/26/09

While the caddis are out and about, it's the BWO that still rules the water. Caddis have been heavier in the Canon City area and near Parkdale with water temperatures a bit higher. With the cooler weather comes the cooler water temps and that puts a halt on the major caddis hatch. I was in the Texas Creek area this weekend and found some caddis out, but the bigger fish came out after the BWOs that hatched late in the day. All it takes is a bit of cloud cover to get the little bugs out and the noses poking out for them. The fish are taking advantage of all the caddis larva and pupa in the water, so there are certainly opportunities to fish caddis all day long and have a good time. I didn't fish a caddis dry, although it was tempting. Most fish caught were on a Hot Wired Prince nymph in Chartreuse/olive color and a Tungsten BH Glossy Back Baetis nymph fished deep. I also had a few fish go after my Hopper Juan that held these flies up. Late in the day, I saw noses poking up to eat duns, I switched to a parachute. It was hard to see at first, so I switched to a Barr's Viz-A-Dun and that worked better.
I will be on the Arkansas again this Saturday helping a friend with his annual fly-fishing camp. Check here for more info. http://www.columbineflyfishers.com/id11.htmlers.com/id11.html. I would highly recommend this for beginner to intermediate fly fishers.
Until next time.


The Sangres and Arkansas River.


The Arkansas River Box. Lots of beads and lead.


Tungsten Hot Wired Prince. One of my favorites on this river.



My Ice Emerger worked well during the hatch. Fish were on emergers big time.


Nice size rainbow for the Ark. Solid fish about 14".


The D-rib Caddis Larva.


Pointing South.

Upcoming Fly Tying Classes, Ghillies Fly Shop

Upcoming Fly Tying Classes

All Classes are limited to 6 students. Cost is $25.00
6:30-8:30PM

Instructor: Juan Ramirez


April 10th BWO Lifecycle Class II
The second series of this class, featuring an all new line up of flies.
Come and learn how to tie the BH Glossy Back Baetis, Barr Emerger, Sparkle Wing RS2, CDC Loop Wing Emerger, CDC Low Rider and Poly Wing Compara Dun.

April 24th Tying Better Parachutes
Join us as we teach you how to tie a better parachute using different materials to make the best looking and most durable parachutes.

May 8th Stillwater Flies
Join us as we tie up some favorite Stillwater patterns. Learn to tie the BH Mini Leech, Callibaetis Nymph, Damsel Nymph and an Adult Foam Damsel.

May 22nd Favorite Dream Stream Patterns
The Spinney Mountain Ranch section of the South Platte can offer lots of fun and fish. These patterns have been tested and are some of our favorites to fish during the summer and into fall. The Graphic Caddis, Sparkle Wing RS2, Otter’s Eggs and Juan’s Trico Compara Dun.

June 5th Favorite Arkansas River Flies
After runoff, the fish are hungry and these flies will get you into lots of fish. Juan’s B.H. Glossy Back, B.H. Tungsten Hot Wired Prince, Shop Vac and the Foam Stoned Hopper.

June 19th Tying and fishing the Hopper Juan
Join us as we guide you through the steps of tying this awesome new fly. It will be summertime and hoppers will be out till late fall. Learn the original Hopper Juan and the Mini Hopper Juan, great for the smaller streams and lower water of fall.

Arkansas River, April 04/11/09

Before the massive caddis hatches showed up, I was able to fish on a cloudy, dark day. Perfect for a BWO hatch, I was sure it was going to be a dry fly day. Well, not quite. I mostly fished a hopper/dropper set up all day and had a blast. I used the Hopper Juan and my BH Glossy Back Baetis. That did the trick for the morning hours but later in the afternoon, fish were feeding hard on caddis larva. I switched to a chartreuse hot Wired Prince, one of my favorites for the Ark. That pulled fish out left and right. Finally, the BWOs started to come off and I saw some splashy rises to them. Most of the rising fish were smaller, with the bigger fish probably still in the riffles and feeding on caddis larva and baetis nymphs. It was a fun day, even though the BWOs came out for about an hour.

I even caught my first fish of the year on a hopper.

These little guys were what I wanted to see. They just weern't out all that long.

360 degree views of flies

Check out Herman deGals's site. It's a great site with some of the best tyers and flies I have ever seen. I am honored to be included in his selection to have my flies listed. Take a look and scroll down to find my name. The Hopper Juan and the Mini Hopper Juan are listed along with a few other of my favorite flies.

http://www.flytyingclips.com/

Red heads and leeches

With Antero and Spinney fishing well right now, so I hear, I had to fill an order of mini leeches and some Red headed woollys. I had to crank to get these out and finding the right materials can be hard some days. I tried to match the correct dubbing for the leeches but could not get it exactly right, but I was close enough and was pleased with the final product.

Welcome to my new blog page, The Hopper Juan. My intention here is to provide a site for people to find information about some of my flies as well as see photos and recipies for my flies and others. Also, I want to share photos and stories of my fly fishing trips along with information for guide trips and fly tying classes. Please stay tuned...

Juan