The lifecylcle of a caddisfly consists of full metamorphosis including stages as egg, larva, pupa and adult. Their life cycle normally takes approximately six months and two years to complete. Caddisfly larvae are grub like in appearance having three pairs of thoracic legs, a segmented abdomen, with two hooked prolegs on the last segment. Adults have four hair-covered wings held when at rest like a pitched roof over the body. Most species have long antennae and in general, the adult wings are dull in colour.
Larva: Year Round - The larva is always present along the bottom of the lake preferring weed beds and rocky shoals from 2ft to 25ft. ##Most caddisfly larvae can be found in benthic habitats in temperate lakes, streams, and ponds. They can tolerate low oxygen concentrations. Habitats can include streams, both cool and warm, lakes, marshes, and ponds. Adult caddisflies are terrestrial. They tend to be most active at night, hiding in cool, moist habitats (such as riparian vegetation) during daytime.
Pupa: Imitate this stage during a hatch - usually from mid June to September. They usually last for a couple of hours around midday and can occur over a number of days. Watch for empty pupal shucks on the water surface, adult Caddis fluttering near the surface, swooping birds and rising trout.
Adults: All the books say to resist the urge to fish the dry and continue with the pupa even if you can see that the trout are taking adults on the surface - ya, good luck with that! The flyguys say - once you can verify that the trout are taking caddis adults on the surface - which is not a hard feat to accomplish as the rises and takes are usually very dramatic - swap over to a dry line, a floating adult pattern, mimic the natural and have a blast!
