Originally tied as a dead/dying caddis pattern (in an attempt to solve chronically erratic evening action on northern California’s Lower Sacramento River), this unusual pattern has evolved into my number one “go-to” dry in virtually all dry fly situations. The fly seems almost bizarrely effective, and not just on the Lower Sac. During one week in southwest Montana and Idaho recently I first used it on Silver Creek, where it did outstanding double duty during a blanket hatch of #24 blue-winged olives. I was using a #18 MLC, which seemed to my eyes to bear absolutely no resemblance to the tiny mayflies – it was about 5 times as large as the naturals! Next I used it in some small freestone creeks for rainbows and cutthroats, where it was a huge hit, though admittedly this was no great test. Contrast that to a small meadow stream near Yellowstone where nervous, oversized Westslopes rise cautiously to perfectly placed hopper patterns; after repeated refusals I switched to a #16 MLC, and landed fish, after fish, after fish…An afternoon on the Gallatin in the Park, where fish were feeding on small baetis again (this time most were in the #22 size range) turned into a catch-fest, with EVERY rising trout (and some that weren’t showing) jumping on my first casts. Another day on the Firehole, with fish feeding on both caddis and baetis, the pattern produced on one selective bank feeder after another. Rarely have I had such across-the-board success with a dry, particularly with such apparent disregard to matching hatch sizes, and insect profiles. I really don’t have an answer for this, but am pretty excited about the phenomena, nonetheless! For the last 2 years I’ve largely been using the pattern in its original dark brown body coloration, but am finding that in some cases varying this to match particular insect hues can make a difference (e.g., pale olive/yellow for pale morning duns), though the original still works pretty much everywhere.