Michigan Flies

Hatches / caddis

October Caddis

A

Pycnopsyche lepida (and P. guttifer, P. subfasciata)

Also called Great Autumn Brown Sedge, Giant Autumn Sedge, Pumpkin Caddis, Pycnopsyche.

The big orange-brown caddis of fall, the Midwest's most abundant Pycnopsyche, with adults active from August and the fishable hatch late September into October in the evening and early morning. Adults skitter and lay eggs on the surface at dusk, so a #10 orange-bodied Stimulator or a bushy elk-hair caddis twitched across the tail-outs draws big browns in the fall. Larvae in wood and pebble cases crawl in slow water and are worth imitating with a cased-caddis nymph. Not the western Dicosmoecus; Michigan's October Caddis is the Great Autumn Brown Sedge.

#8–14eveningmorninglarvapupaadultreddish-brown to orange-brown body (about 20 mm)mottled brown winglarva in a wood or pebble case

© Alain Hogue · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist · Rigaud, QC · 2018

Timing by region

  1. Southeast Lower Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Jul 18 – Oct 17
    Peak
    Sep 6 – Oct 6
  2. Southwest Lower Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Jul 22 – Oct 21
    Peak
    Sep 10 – Oct 10
  3. Northeast Lower Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Aug 1 – Oct 31
    Peak
    Sep 20 – Oct 20
  4. Northwest Lower Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Aug 1 – Oct 31
    Peak
    Sep 20 – Oct 20
  5. Upper Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Aug 22 – Nov 21
    Peak
    Oct 11 – Nov 10

Flies that match

Elk Hair Caddis (reference photo)Reference photo
Elk Hair Caddis
I
Dry fly#10–20TanOliveBlack+2

The all-purpose adult caddis for Michigan's May through October caddis season, which Houghton's Manistee work shows peaking in early to mid July with flight heaviest an hour or two after sunset. Carry tan #14 to #16 for Hydropsyche, black #16 to #20 for the spring black caddis, and #8 to #10 orange for October Caddis. Skitter it at dusk when egg-layers are on the water.

Dry fly

Reserve · $3.00
October Caddis (reference photo)Reference photo
October Caddis
A
Dry fly#8–12Reddish brown / burnt orange

Pycnopsyche, about 20 mm and uniformly reddish brown, flies mostly August through October in Michigan, listed as October Caddis #8 to #14 on state charts. Skate or dead-drift a big orange-brown caddis in the evening and morning from late September into October on the Au Sable, Manistee and Pere Marquette; fall steelhead occasionally rise to it.

Dry fly

Reserve · $3.00
Stimulator (reference photo)Reference photo
Stimulator
I
Dry fly#6–14YellowOrangeOlive

A buoyant palmered dry that stands in for golden stone adults during the Hex weeks (Gates reports yellow and golden stones concurrent with the June Hex), Yellow Sallies in May and June, and October Caddis in fall. It also floats a dropper nymph in fast water on the Pine and Sturgeon.

Dry fly

Reserve · $3.00