Green Sedge Inspiration

The Green Sedge Fly

I never forgot my first experience of catching a fish on a fly of my own creation. 

My first success at marching the hatch was on Glimpse Lake in British Columbia. I was wearing an old goose down vest, and while casting to some rising fish, I noticed that a few down feathers had leaked from the vest and settled on the lake. A gentle breeze tumbled them across the surface when suddenly a fish rose to a feather and snatched it. I was stunned! A fish taking a feather? 

Then fish started feeding all around the boat. I peered closely at the water's surface and confirmed that a hatch of No. 8 green-bodied caddisflies was occurring. The fish were taking the adult caddis and the feathers with equal abandon. I dug into my fly tying kit and tied a close resemblance of the caddis using grizzly hackle, green wool and feathers from the hole in my vest. The imitation had a perfect shape for the caddis wing, and as soon as I starting casting I was hooking one fish after another. It was an ecstatic moment.  As the feeding subsided, I realized that I had finally "matched the hatch" with my own imitation. 

Materials:

Hook:     No. 9672 Mustad, Sizes 12-10

Thread:  3/0 black monocord

Tail:       Grizzly hackle fibers

Body:     Insect green yarn wrapped with palmered grizzly hackle

Wing:     Mallard flank feather

Hackle:  Grizzly (tied dry)