A great spring time fly.....Catawba/Tent worm

[Donald Schmotzer]

  I posted this step X step on another forum a couple of years ago and thought I would post it here as well. This fly works wonders in the spring fished around the willow trees. I not only caught all sizes of bream but a lot of Bass too so I started tying it in different sizes. Be sure to use a long dry fly hook on this fly so it will float a little longer. If it does starts to sink, just "twitch" it as you strip it in, the fish don't really seem to care if it is on top or not but I like it to float so I can better see the "takes"..

I am a little early with this one......It is explosive in the spring when the Catawba worms are falling off the willow trees. It will work during all the warm months, but in the spring it really shines.
This fly is very simple, requiring only thread / two colors of micro chenille / griz hackle / and a hook. My favorite size is # 12 and # 10 size hooks, the one I am doing here is on a size # 6 for bass. I have made them all the way down to size 14.......smaller than that and I can't seem to get them to come out right (the ole eyes are not what they used to be). Also, as in the mini-bugger, I found that palmering the hackle from the front to the back and to the front again not only keeps the fly from twisting in the water.......but with the extra hackle it floats longer before you have to dry it out. One day last spring in a  private pond......5 cast in a row landed a bass under a willow tree that had a Catawba nest up in the branches. But in the spring it seems to work even if there is no webby-nest in the tree.....go-figure. I prefer red thread on this one, if the wooley worms in you area are a different color.....then by all means "match-the-hatch" if you can. In SC they are green with a black strip down the back. I will include an older picture of several different sizes I tied a year ago......I tied them a little different back then, but the results are the same..(largest one in last picture is a size #2 streamer hook).......They work so well I felt like sharing with the forum.  .......Good-Luck......Don S. in SC

[Vince Fusco]

I like the looks of that fly. I will try my hand at tying a few of them for when the water warms up this spring. 

[Leo Nguyen]

Ridiculously awesome! Thank you!

[Eddie Mathis]

That should work , very nice and so easy , that's great. Good job!!

[dick tabbert]

I love it Donald. When I lived in N.C. my old fishing partner and I would hunt down Catawba trees and hunt for them jokers. It's funny you might go through 10 tree and not find a 1 then the 11th would be loaded. Thanks for the post I know they work great and I will attempt the tie. Again thanks.

[Jim Gronaw]

Outstanding tutorial! I have fond memories of using live catawba worms at Lake Prince near Suffolk , VA when I was about 11 years old. We caught bluegills up to 10 inches long out of an old wooden boat we rented at the fishing station there. Two of the most enjoyable days I ever fished in my life, and not because of the catching! My dad and brother just had a great time and caught some decent fish.

Thanks so much for posting this!

[Lee]

 Another really nice tie Don! I tie something similar looking but add rubber legs a a touch of lead on the shank. It's a killer fly for both Big Bream and Bass in my clearwater lakes down here. I'll have to tie up your version and try it on Top!