Mugly Caddis By Charlie Craven

The Mugly Caddis is a pattern I developed after my first evening on the Henry's Fork. I had fished to sporadically rising fish all evening with little success. Meanwhile, another angler, slightly downstream seemed to be hooked up every time I looked his way. I cornered him near dark and with a sharp jab to the back of the head, put him to sleep for a few minutes while I inspected his pattern. The fly he was using was both disappointing and offensive to my fly tying sensibilities. It was merely a no hackle elk hair caddis pattern tied with a poorly dubbed body. The dubbing was too long with strands hanging out all over the place and the wing was too sparse. I hated it.
I went back to my room and tied up a few variations of the poor guy’s fly and proceeded to use them for the rest of the week with great success.
Once I got back to Colorado, I sat down and perfected the pattern. The Whitlock SLF blend dubbing is a perfect match for this scraggly bug and the CDC underwing provided more movement and better flotation than the elk hair on the original.
I believe this pattern imitates a stuck in the shuck caddis, trapped partially in the nymphal shuck. The long fibered dubbing imitates the struggling legs of the natural and traps air bubbles to closer mimic the emergent caddis.
I fish this fly both dry and wet. I will often let it swing under at the end of the drift and hang for a second or two before recasting. The Mugly can draw some incredibly aggressive strikes and it is important to remember to drop the rod tip to avoid breaking the fish off on the strike.
I think of the poor guy I cracked every time I use this pattern and send him a silent thank you. It's the least I could do.
Materials Needed:
Hook: TMC 100SP-BL #12-20
Thread: 8/0 Camel Uni
Abdomen: Whitlock SLF Dubbing Brown Stone Nymph
Underwing: Snowshoe Rabbit Foot Hair Natural Cream/Tan
Overwing: Comparadun Deer Hair
Thorax: Whitlock SLF Dubbing Brown Stone Nymph
All materials are available for purchase at charliesflybox...

[@marclawson7552]

It’s nice to see that even Charlie breaks thread

[@brianfeeney9493]

PRIMO OLE’ Mr. Craven 🌟🎣🐟

[@bengtsundberg48]

Thank you for a great pattern! Easy to follow!

[@christianwood7432]

That unicorn hair in the dubbing is sweet.

[@eddiecrease1802]

Good pattern aas always Charlie thanks for the content!! I appreciate you leaving in the thread break as I feel most people would have edited it out, even though it happens to any fly there!!

[@dankochanek8056]

This will be a killer pattern on the North Platte in the Summer.

[@bobfowler9522]

If only all posted tying videos were as descriptive and honest (broken thread?) as yours. Even though I've been tying a while, I've learned something new on every one of your videos I've watched. Thanks (also for the material list at the end)

[@chrisbukowski9434]

Nice save on the thread

[@ericlong9085]

That's gorgeous

[@EscalanteFlyFlipper]

Of course I’ll buy the book.

[@jimfreeman3636]

Yep, got the name right fer sure! Brought to mind a Picket's Pin for some reason - but then I'm old fart!

[@dominicmontoya5603]

Appreciate this

[@tysonolsen6147]

Could I use simi seal for the body, or would that not float well?

[@varmintassassins8924]

great video, ill make sure to tie some

[@duderoony]

Nah. Didn’t enjoy that one..... I loved it! What a lovely scruffy little bug. Deffo gonna have a go at it. Thanks for another one dude. Keep safe.

[@cachi-7878]

Fugly would have been a more appropriate name.

[@gagefitzpatrick3853]

Looks like my least favorite pest-the horse fly!