Biot CDC Callibaetis

Feed the Gulpers

Biot CDC Callibaetis, the Slurpee of the lakes

Remember that time when you were fishing your favorite reservoir out of your donut float tube?  The time when you were rigged up with your 6 weight, a type 5 sinking line, and your very best bugger pattern?  The time when you started seeing dimples in the surface only to realize that those were fish dimpling the surface, and not only were they dimpling the surface, they were eating mayflies???  I remember that time.  I had never really considered rigging a dry fly line for lake fishing, but what did I know - I was a neoprene wader, 'murican flag bandana wearing, secret dubbing having, bugger strippin', EXPERT...  This day was similar to many that I have had over my fishing journey, because it taught me that I should never get too comfortable with my techniques and that I should always keep an open mind to learn new things.

If you have ever fished a good callibaetis hatch on a stillwater, you have experienced some very exciting fishing.  It's exciting because you never know if the fish is going to crush your fly with reckless abandon, sip it gently, or swim up to your fly to count it's body segments only to decide that it's not "real" enough and flip you the fin.  When tying flies for lakes (or for froggish slow moving water) it's critical to dial in your flies just a little bit more than you would for faster moving water where fish don't have the luxury of window shopping before making a commitment. Split your tails.  Use materials like biots to make segmented bodies. Sparse up your hackle just a bit...

Brookies eat Callibaetis like I eat Skittles.  Fast and Furious.

This pattern has been particularly effective due to some very cool materials that we have been playing with.  The wild turkey biots give a very mottled effect to the body, and the speckled badger hackle plays very well with the "speckled" callibaetis theme.  Another big player in the "match the hatch" game is Nature's Spirit materials.  They have their colors so dialed in that it makes it very easy to tie a fly that is G'd up from the feet up (That's bad gangster lingo for "matching head to toe."  I apologize... kind of.)

The next time you are fishing a lake, pay attention to what is happening on top of the water, even if you are killing it stripping buggers, rocking a 'murican flag bandanna, and listening to Skid Row on your portable boom box.

~ Cheech

Recipes:

Speckled Tan
Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-16 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Veevus 16/0 - Dark tan (BUY HERE)
Tails: Coq De Leon rooster cape - Med pardo (BUY HERE)
Body: Nature's Spirit wild turkey biot - Callibaetis (BUY HERE)
Wing: Nature's Spirit CDC tufts - Callibaetis (BUY HERE)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit fine natural dubbing - Callibaetis (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Whiting Hebert Miner - Speckled badger (cape or saddle) (BUY HERE)

Speckled Gray
Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-16 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Veevus 16/0 - Dun (BUY HERE)
Tails: Coq De Leon rooster cape - Med pardo (BUY HERE)
Body: Nature's Spirit wild turkey biot - Muskrat Gray (BUY HERE)
Wing: Nature's Spirit CDC tufts - Medium gray dun (BUY HERE)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit fine natural dubbing - Muskrat Gray (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Whiting - Grizzly (cape or saddle) (BUY HERE)