I have no idea who invented the original Mustard Caddis, but recall seeing this fly featuring in yellowfish write-ups in the early 90s already. It is so effective that Horst Filter, one of the pioneers of smallscale and largescale yellowfish in South Africa, continued fishing this fly for yellowfish across South Africa and fine-tuned it for ‘his’ rivers in the Lüneburg area. Horst loves catching small- and largescale yellowfish, as well as chiselmouth species that occur in the Pongola and Assegaai Rivers and their tributaries, and one of his favourite flies to catch all of these fishes in a session with is his personalised version of the famous Mustard Caddis.
Horst and his Mustard Caddis
Garth Wellman and I recently visited Horst and while he guided us to catch some amazing yellowfish, he also showed us just how deadly his version of the Mustard Caddis is for his backyard yellows. Firstly, he insists on using the right colour ‘yellow’ chenille, a custom dyed mustardy yellow that he’s got at industrial scale (probably more than a kilometer of the stuff and I’m not joking!). Then, Horst insists on using an iridescent yellow cellophane material for the back of the fly, something that he randomly found at a local flower shop. In his words: “This fly works!”; and man does it work!
Here is a quick step-by-step for Horst’s Mustard Caddis (oh, and good luck finding that iridescent yellow cellophane btw!):
Materials
I chose the Hanak H 35 XH #12 hook for this fly because it is a sturdy hook that will not bend open easily under the pressure of a biggish yellowfish tearing off line on that first powerful run that they are so well known for.
Tying sequence
Step 1: I selected a 3 mm gunmetal black tungsten bead for this fly;
Step 2: Tie in copper wire down the length of the hook shank (to create a relatively even layer of thread) and also tie in a slither of the iridescent yellow cellophane at the bend of the hook (I used Gordon Griffith’s Sheer 14/0 black thread here);
Step 3: Tie in a piece of the mustard-coloured chenille at the bend of the hook;
Step 5: Fold the cellophane slither over the abdomen to form the back of the fly;
Step 6: Wrap the copper wire towards the bead to create the abdominal segments of the caddis larva and to secure the cellophane back;
Step 7: Tie in a few strands of peacock herl behind the bead;
Step 8: Twist the peacock herl into a noodle and wrap forward and right up against the bead to form the thorax of the fly;
Step 9: Tie off and varnish the knot of the thread.
Results
Horst with a beautiful chiselmouth that he caught on his customised Mustard Caddis, a deadly pattern for yellowfishes when fished deep and with slow retrieves along the bottom of rivers.
The largescale yellowfish of the Assegaai River loved eating the Mustard Caddis during our trip.
More largescale yellowfish love for the Mustard Caddis…
And a decent smallscale yellowfish that also fell for the Mustard Caddis.
Garth Wellman and Horst Filter working a pool on the middle reaches of the Assegaai River.
A lekker smallscale yellowfish to finish the day.
Wow, awesome looking fly! Will definitely try and get material as close to these as possible and tie a few for my yellowfish fly box as I am located within the West Coast and have access to the Olifants, Doring, Tra-Tra, etc. rivers where they are apparently found.
Just a question, when you refer to “fished deep and with slow retrieves along the bottom of rivers” how do you go about it? Cast out only the fly and slow retrieve like a figure of eight or do you also use an attractor fly with it? Have you used the fly below an indicator or dry and then drifting a run?
Thanks, Rohann
Hi Rohann, I’ve fished a fair amount Cederberg region. Depending on which Yellows you targeting, Saws or Clannies, best results I’ve had for sizable Sawfins are on a Mustard Caddis and Hotspot Nymph in tandem on full sink, focus around ledges or the inlets to pools, normally see them vacuuming about the pool head in large schools. Dead drift down steam and then once you in the zone lift rod tip as if its emerging and that’s where the strike normally happens. Clannies are a lot more aggressive and normally smash Woolly’s or zonker pretty quickly after the first strip. I’ve had them take woolly’s before even sinking and the. I’ve also blanked so hard that I question my life sometimes.
Hi Rohann,
So Horst loves fishing this fly on a floating line with long leaders (about 16 to 18 foot leaders), often only with a single fly at the end; you basically cast it out into an area where fish are likely holding or patrolling, let it sink (you can count it down) and then retrieve it back with slow ‘draws’, or yes a figure of eight retrieve will also work. Horst also adds droppers (tied on New Zealand style), like small bloodworm imitations and then doing exactly the same cast, sink, slow retrieve thing. Takes from fish vary from simply feeling subtle resistance at the end of the line (almost like hooking weed), or getting the line ripped through your fingers out of the blue (so be ready for those sudden, unexpected eats that could snap you off). Hope this helps?
Does Leonard Flemming leave any fish to be caught by others? Guy cleaned up as always! Beautiful fish