Superpuppan

Emerger imitating caddis, for trout and grayling. Beginner. Lennart Bergqvist.

A sparse yellow body and short brown thorax with a dun hackle palmered over them, trimmed top and bottom so only the side fibres remain.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 90% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns.
  3. Tie in: dark dun cock hackle Tie in the dark dun cock hackle with a few firm thread turns. One size too large, by the stripped stem, pointing back.
  4. Dub: golden yellow dry fly dubbing Twist a thin noodle of golden yellow dry fly dubbing onto the thread and wrap it forward to 70% of the way along the shank. Sparse and slim.
  5. Dub: brown dry fly dubbing Twist a thin noodle of brown dry fly dubbing onto the thread and wrap it forward to 92% of the way along the shank. Short and dark.
  6. Wind: dark dun cock hackle Wind the dark dun cock hackle forward to 92% of the way along the shank in 5 turns. Four or five open turns over the whole body.
  7. Tie off: dark dun cock hackle Tie off the dark dun cock hackle with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  8. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. A very small head.
  9. Trim: dark dun cock hackle Cut away the fibres of the dark dun cock hackle on top and underneath, leaving two flat rows sticking out at the sides. The two rows of fibres make it float, and wake when it is pulled.

History

Lennart Bergqvist began developing it in 1977 on the Norwegian river Rena, studying hatching caddis with Kenneth Boström, Jan Sekander and Preben Torp Jacobsen. Early versions had wing buds and legs; by the early 1980s it had reached its simple form. Bergqvist called it the Floating Caddis Pupa; his friend Bengt Öste named it Superpuppan.

Fishing it

Imitates a caddis pupa swimming in the surface towards the bank to hatch. Fish it dead drift first; then twitch it, or swing it so it ploughs towards the bank. The two rows of fibres keep it high and make a wake. A searching fly for grayling, which rise to it from deep water. Guideline calls it a must on the Rena and Glomma in July and August.

Sources