Tying a Rock Candy Larva

Producer: Richard Strolis

Rich Strolis: “The Rock Candy Larva is about as simple a fly pattern as it gets. I was looking for a very durable caddis larva that could be virtually bounced off the bottom of the river, would tie quickly with minimal materials and was streamlined enough to sink to the fish quickly. The material used in the construction of the body makes for a very nice segmented and rubbery body that is almost reminiscent of a super ball. I tie these in shades of olive, bright green, cream brown and yellow, typically with a copper or black tungsten bead, in sizes 6-16. A very good anchor fly in any euro-style nymph rig, this pattern in particular was one of my top anchors in 2010.”

Materials

Hook: Any Scud or Grub hook
Size: 6-16
Thread: UTC 140
Underbody: Flat or round lead wire with Uni Stretch
Body : Body Glass, nymph skin, thin skin or scud back
Head: Tungsten Bead
Collar: Spikey Squirrel dub

Rich Strolis started fishing at an early age in western Massachusetts. By the age of 11 he was introduced to fly fishing and fly tying and never looked back. Rich has been guiding for nine seasons now as well as professionally tying and selling some of his unique fly patterns, which have appeared in several fly fishing publications. To see more of Rich’s work visit his Web site at www.catching-shadows.com.