After a long winter with limited insect activity, most people view the famed “Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch” as the first major bug hatch of the season. This hatch draws anglers from far and wide to take advantage of an amazing flurry of insect life. Fortunately, the descriptor “Mothers Day Caddis Hatch” is merely a generalization, and thankfully so: There would be a lot of fussy moms if this sensational hatch pulled husbands and kids out to the river precisely on this special day year after year!

Sensitive to temperature, Caddis leap into gear once the water hits 54 degrees. They swim to the surface and begin their mating ritual, often blanketing entire sections of river. As the river boils with fish on the surface, it makes you wonder what kind of sedate, underwater life they were leading before the hatch popped. By the end of the day you’ll have caddis under your shirt, in your hat, and covering your boat.
Despite all the action, it is oddly difficult to catch fish during the hatch. The difficulty in attracting a fish to your fly isn’t because it’s a poor pattern; rather, it’s a numbers game. With literally millions of these flies exploding on the same stretch of river, it becomes statistically challenging for your fly to be targeted by feeding fish. The fact that this hatch usually coincides with our yearly snowpack runoff also makes it difficult for fish to locate a fly.

There are a few techniques you can employ to increase success when fishing such a hatch. Because Caddis are so sensitive to water temperature, they will move upriver as the water warms. If you figure out the section of river where the Caddis are most active and position yourself above the hatch, you will have great luck fishing Caddis Pupas and Emergers.

Conversely, if you fish behind the hatch using spent wing caddis patterns such as the Silvey’s Dead Caddis, you can imitate Caddis that have drowned while mating. Fish these dead Caddis as an Emerger just under the surface behind a dry fly Caddis pattern, or nymph them with an indicator and split shot. If you use them as a nymph rig, it is best to run a longer piece of tippet between the dead caddis and your top fly or your split shot. These patterns are extremely light, and extending the leader allows your fly a ton of movement in the river current.

The last way to fish the Caddis hatch is probably our shop favorite, and believe it or not, it is with streamers, allowing you to get into some hefty, hungry fish early in the season. When the hatch coincides with spring runoff, fishing big, bright streamers is a great way to target the stouter trout that inhabit our rivers. These trout grow plump for good reason: With the smaller, younger trout busy gobbling up Caddis, larger predatory trout use this distraction to pick off unsuspecting fish.
The Mother’s Day Caddis hatch offers anglers the opportunity to fish any style they prefer. From fishing dries in the peak of the hatch, to nymphing ahead and behind the hatch, to stripping big streamers for predatory browns at runoff, this hatch offers creative alternatives for everyone and marks the start of our first large bug hatches. But be forewarned, if it does fall on Mother’s Day you’d better think long and hard before running off to the river, you don’t want to ruin your wife or mother’s opinion of fly fishing for the rest of the summer!

Jake Adelman is a fisherman from Bozeman. He can be reached at Montana Troutfitters where he works.