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I will be visiting Dunsmuir in a couple of weeks and was wondering if I could get some general information on fishing the October Caddis hatch. I visit Dunsmuir every June so I am fairly knowledgeable about the Upper Sac. However, I have never been up there in the fall. Is the hatch primarily an evening event? Upstream, around town, or downstream??? Thanks in advance for all your help!!
Brian H
StevenB is the authority on that. Send him a PM.
It’s an afternoon and evening affair and generally the hatch moves upriver over the course of 2-3 weeks, weather dependent of course. A warm fall will speed the hatch to complete quickly while cool weather may slow it down. While a lot of nice fish are caught on a dry don’t forget about a dropper.
Call Bob Gray at the "Ted Fay Fly Shop" in Dunsmuir, CA.
530/235-2969
www.tedfay.com
Ted Fay opened the shop in 1950.
Later Joe Kimsey took over.
After that Bob Grace took over and moved into downtown.
We had a cabin in Dunsmuir for 10 years.
Hi Brian:
Short answers to your questions:
Hatch mainly happens late afternoon into evening.
Varies depending on weather, cold days hatch is more likely to happen mid-day (warmest part of the day).
Caddis are found all along the river but most are in the upper third of the river, kinda like Castle Craigs state park to Cantera.
Lots of Caddis in the air does not necessarily mean the fish are eating the drys. Usual rule of thumb is late October thru Nov for the dry fly bite. Fish eat the pupa more often.
I would start fishing a dry dropper set up to see if they will rise to the dry. if not, dropper may work, if yes, then get rid of the dropper and have fun with the dry.
Also if you see Caddis popping out of the water (the hatch) and they will not eat the dry,
try swinging a pupa pattern thru the run, especially the tail out.
Once the fish start keying on the dry they will often take it all day long regardless of when the hatch happens.
you can give me a call if you want more info.
Thanks for the detailed information Steven!!! I'm looking forward to giving it go in a couple of weeks.
Our forum is so lucky to have some special people like Steven here to help out.