Jimmy Tyrrell’s Peeping Caddis
Jimmy Tyrrell of IrishFlyCraft.com writes about a successful day with a previously undetected trout fly and shows how to tie this pattern to help catch more trout when sedge fishing.

Iwas guiding for an Australian guest just after lunch and decided the River Nore was our best bet as the water levels were pretty low and there are some beautiful runs on the river ideal for wet fly fishing.
After having no luck for the first hour I was searching through my fly boxes when I spotted the peeping caddis pattern hiding away in a corner of the box.
I hadn’t used it for some time probably because I am always dabbling with different patterns trying something or other.
It was a fly that I had used when I was doing a lot more fishing than I do now and a pattern that I had great faith in, especially in the afternoon and early evening and it can produce a good day’s fishing when the time and conditions are right.
I gave Paul the fly and he caught a lot of trout, with the biggest just over the pound. He was a very happy man at the end of the day — and me even more so because he never lost the fly and it was the only one I had in the fly box!

Sedges in Ireland
Sedges are common throughout Ireland and can be found in all rivers, loughs, canals drains and small streams — almost every type of water throughout Ireland .
I prefer to fish this pattern through the faster streamy stretches of the river and often some good fish can be had at the end of these runs.
Sedge fishing is at its best just as the light begins to fade and right into darkness. There are some species of sedge that hatch out during the day and evening, but the best fishing is when the sun is setting.
And that is why I find this a good imitation to have as you can fish this right through the day and then go onto the dry patterns late in the evening.
Look under the stones
There are a number of different sedge patterns out there and if you search under the larger stones on your local river you will be sure to find a lot of empty and more often than not, inhabited cases with the caddis larvae inside them.
Then there are the non case-making larvae and the most common on my local river would be the hydropsyche and rhyacophila larvae. These are quite a big insect and can be found amongst the moss and weed under stones and rocks on the river bed.
It pays to do this research and find out what patterns there are on your local rivers as there are a huge variety of different patterns but not all of them are of great interest to the fisherman. Different species of the caddis larvae will also use different materials for their cases — everything from weeds to empty snail shells — so a bit of research could pay dividends.

The larva make these cases by first making a tube of silk web made up of silk threads produced from glands in its mouth. They then fasten small gravel and sand and other bits of debris that the larvae can find on the river bed and the bottoms of loughs and keep adding more material to the case as they are growing.
The larvae in still water tend to use more buoyant materials as this helps them with movement. The case made with gravel, small stones and particles of sand adds weight to the case and it is then secured to the bottom of rocks and stones on the river bed which helps prevent the case getting swept away in moving water.
This is a great disguise and they can be very difficult to detect by their predators as they really do blend in with their background. But when they are detected they are quite a nice tasty morsel for any trout.
It is also a very good imitation in the slower flowing rivers where the cases can be found in amongst the weeds and at the bottoms of reeds.
Patterns
Because there are so many different sedges out there it would not pay to try and copy them all and a few different patterns will do in different sizes and colours.
The most common species of sedge in Ireland would be the silver sedge, green peter, Murrough, brown sedge and cinnamon sedge. These few will give an indication of the different colours mentioned.
The Peeping Caddis is a pattern that is well worth a try and you don’t have to be to particular when tying it — the rougher the body the better. I will certainly be using this pattern more often.
Tying the Peeping Caddis
- Hook size: 12 long shank
- Body: rough dubbing rope, preferably hare’s mask fur
- Head: white or cream dubbing
- Rib: silver wire
- Hackle: black hen hackle

1. Wind on some lead wire at the bottom half of the hook shank

2. Secure the Lead wire with the tying silk

3. Tie in a strand of dubbing loop

4. Wind up the dubbing loop over the lead and tie off

5. Tie in a strand of white or cream floss and a strand of silver wire

6. Wind the floss up and down to create the head

7. Wind up the silver wire three to four turns

8. Tie in a good quality hen hackle

9. Wind the hackle two turns and tie off whip finish and varnish
Tying Tips
- Don’t over-do the lead, use enough for the type of water you are going to fish
- Use really rough dubbing for the body of the fly
- Cover just under three quarters of the hook shank with the dubbing
- Dampen the floss slightly before winding will stop it dividing
More of Jimmy’s fly tying can be viewed on his YouTube Channel and his flies can be purchased online.

