I have a few ponds i made out of the plastic kiddy pools and i have been seeing a lot of midges all winter. They have been flying around the whole areas like mosquitoes in the summer. But today, i saw something with a little bigger wings. I caught it and to my surprise it was a caddis. I didn't think they were around in late winter. I think it was a microcaddis just guessing because i dont think theres any other caddises that small. It was very small, maybe size 18 or 20. It had gray translucent wings. It had fairly big back wings or second wings or whatever there called. It had a cream colored body. The wings extended past the body. It had a big head for its body. I dont remember if it had oversized eyes or not. There weren't any veins in the wings. I thinks thats all the info i remember. If theres any more info you need to indentify this maybe i can remember something more. I would have had a picture but my camera doesn't focus close up.

trout990-

This is what an adult Microcaddis looks like.



There are at least (12) Microcaddis genera in WA. Many species inhabit stillwater environments, so one of those may have dumped her eggs in one of your pools. The larvae feed mostly on algae, which I suspect your pools may have in abundance. Many species overwinter as final instar larvae, so, given the unseasonably warm winter we have had, perhaps the one you observed was emerging early. Or, perhaps there is a species that customarily emerges in late winter.

Don't pay any attention to the colors in the above photo, as Microcaddis come in a wide variety of wing and body colors. However, what all of them share is: being no longer than 6 mm, antennae shorter than fore wings, and narrow wings with a long fringe of hairs.

Created: 02/16/2006   Last modified: 08/25/2006    www.FlyfishingEntomology.com