The Wickham's Fancy Caddis has a metallic gold palmered body to help attract the attention of passing predatory Trout. The sun light in the water reflects off the gold colored material and catches the eye of the fish hopefully increasing the amount of strikes. There are two claimants to being the designer of this general caddis attractor pattern. Dr T.C. Wickham, instructed Winchester fly-tyer Jack Hammond to make him some copies of a fly called the Cockerton that he used to use in his younger days. When they were finished they did not quite match the old pattern. There was a lot more gold on the body and less hair. The Doctor took them fishing just the same on his next river trip on the river Test in Hampshire, Southern England. The fly turned out to be a killer. At the same time another Winchester Fly-Tyer, George Correll stated that he had made the same pattern for a Captain John Wickham in 1884. Before the development of nymph fishing in the twentieth century the Victorians used this wet fly to imitate caddis pupae. After hatches of tiny midges and Blue winged olives the March Browns are normally the first large mayflies of the year. They always seem to hatch in cold rainy afternoons. The Autumn Dun (Ecdyonurus dispar) is often confused for the March brown insect as the two are of similar size and appearance. WET FLIES A wet fly is designed to be fished below the water's surface. They are tied as deceivers or attractors. The success of the wet fly often depends far more on its action in the water than on its resemblance to a particular insect, but this is not always the case. When fish are on the feed the actual pattern is generally not important, but when the fish are preoccupied or need tempting the angler must use ingenuity to discover what the fish are feeding on and what color they are taking. When fishing wet flies, it is important to remember that the higher the wave on the water the higher the fly hook size can be, but still take into account the brightness and clarity of the water. Trout do see subsurface insects with wings. Some flies begin to hatch below the water surface. The Baetis group of up-winged flies swim or crawl beneath the surface as adult spinners in order to lay egg. There are occasions when duns and spent spinners are swamped by the current and forced under the water surface. Emerging duns that have been unable to get rid of their nymphal case or at the time of emerging are drowned when they float under rough water that is flowing over a large rock or ledge are also hunted by the fish. The trout on purpose lurk in slack water near eddies and small plunge pools to look out for these type of snacks. Clearly a trout does see winged insects under the surface at certain times of the year so be prepared with a selection of different colored wet flies for when the fish are not taking from the surface.
