Umpqua Feather Merchants Z-Wing Caddis, Mercer's Review

The Z-Wing Caddis is just about the only caddis pupa imitation I use on a regular basis (or, a minor variation thereof - you know us inveterate fly tyers can't help but "tinker"). It's just one of those relatively simple, fairly straightforward, "looks like what it's supposed to be imitating" designs that works.  You can't ask for much more than that in a fly pattern.

Why Caddis Patterns?

To put it succinctly, whether you fish in the eastern U.S., Canada, or the western U.S., a caddis pattern or, more likely, a selection of caddis patterns, rides in your fly boxes.  Caddis hatches can be an affair to remember and even "mark calendars" for some fly fishers; e.g., the Mother's Day Hatch is a famous caddis "event" in the Wyoming/Montana region which occurs, to one degree or another, like clockwork every year. At the other end of the season is the "October Caddis" hatch; which, interestingly enough, happens in October and is an emergence of rather large caddis rising to the surface or flying heavily just above it on a daily basis. Oooohhh the big guys, and even the small trout with BIG aspirations and lots of attitude, like that; especially with winter a comin'.

Which Caddis Stage To Imitate?

For the fly fisher, day in and day out, throughout the season, it is the pupa form that gets it done. This is the "transitional" form between the larva and the emerger/adult. This is the stage where the larva begins to take on aspects of the adult, releases from the rocks, and "rises" toward the surface. As such, it is fished from bottom to top in the water column. It is swung, dapped, dunked, free drifted, Leisenring lifted, stripped, or "somehow" cast to the fish on upstream, downstream, cross stream, quartering, roll, or any 'ole cast that gets it where it needs to go and allows the fisherman to manipulate it the way they need to. In short, there is no ONE way to fish a caddis pupa. However, a standard "opening gambit" is to cast slightly up and across stream, let it drift, drag-free, then allow it to "rise" to the surface at the end of the drift; often on 4X - 7X (6lb.-2lb.) tippets.

Mercer's Z-Wing Caddis 

Designed primarily for use in moving water, the Z-Wing Caddis offered by Umpqua comes in three color variations - olive, amber, and lime green.  As noted in Mike Mercer's 2005 instructional book Creative Fly Tying, the olive is the most "popular;" though he does cite the fact that the amber imitates a "Hydropsyche" caddis pupa and is, therefore, available to fish all season long.  If I had to proffer some less than absolute and decidedly "unsage-like" advice... I'd focus on the lime green in the spring, the olive on cloudy days or in the Fall, and the amber throughout the season. [It's not exactly that I stick to that. But, it's a place to start. Remember, consult a local fly shop for the nuances of a particular stream.] 

Umpqua offers the Z-Wing Caddis, in standard, copper bead head, and gold (tungsten) bead head styles, from size 12 - 18; dependent upon color and bead head configuration. In his book Creative Fly Tying, Mercer cites sizes from 14 - 20; having mentioned that he felt the size 12 was "a little large." Personally, I find size 14 and 16 most utilitarian; occasionally tying on a size 12 and rarely an 18 or 20. 

The Z-Wing Caddis is tied on a Tiemco (TMC) 2457 hook or similar (e.g., Dai-Riki #135 or Mustad 80250BR.)  As listed by Mike Mercer, the fly is tied with a body of Mercer's Select Buggy Nymph (available from Umpqua; the applicable colors being Amber Caddis, Caddis Green, and Z-Wing).  Over the body is a back (or "carapace") of turkey tail with the back and abdomen "ribbed" with chartreuse, copper, or amber tying thread depending on variation.  (I personally prefer and substitute Ultra Wire in small and extra-small sizes for the rib.)  A collar of Caddis Green Mercer's Select Buggy Dubbing is added between the body and the "head" on the olive and lime green variations; I'm not certain of the collar's color on the amber. From under the collar and extending along the sides of the body are wing pads of light to dark dun Z-Lon (I tend to use Antron). The head is constructed of peacock herl. If you wish to add a bead, Mercer's recipe calls for a copper one on all three colors; but, as noted, Umpqua offers a regular copper and a gold, tungsten bead. (Otherwise, the amount of lead wire you add to the hook shank prior to tying will be dependent upon WHERE in the water column (i.e., how deep) you want to fish the fly.)

The Bottom Line 

I've seen and had this pattern work throughout the Western U.S. on such waters as the Lower and Upper Sacramento River, the Metolius River, the Gallatin River, numerous creeks/streams I don't intend to name, and a few "famous" waters that you'll have to "discover" for yourself.