How to Tie the Candy Shop Callibaetis Dry Fly

Did you find this video helpful? We've got hundreds more just like it. Subscribe to Trident's YouTube Channel and enhance your fly-tying skills. New videos posted weekly in a variety of different patterns.

Watching trout consume Callibaetis on the water's surface is akin to observing a child in a candy store. From this comparison, the name “Candy Shop Callibaetis” emerged. Callibaetis remain motionless like a statue when they turn into spinners on the surface during the hatch. Fish recognize these as guaranteed meals since the insects cannot escape. Following this phase, the wings lay spent to the side, and the spinners die, blanketing the water's surface. This leads to a feeding frenzy in many still waters and rivers.

Material List:

• Hook: Tiemco TMC 100 Dry Fly Hooks (size: 14; can be tied sizes 12-16)
• Thread: Danville 6/0 (70 Denier) Flymaster Thread (color: tan)
• Tail: Hareline Mayfly Tails (color: tan)
• Body: Hareline Turkey Biot Quills (color: calibaetis)
• Wings: Hareline Scud Back (color: gray; size: 1/8")
• Wing Post: Hareline Sparkle Emerger Yarn (color: cream) and McFlyFoam PolyPro McFlylon (color: pink)
• Hackle: Whiting Dry Fly Hackle Full Cape (colors; dark barred ginger and grizzly)

Step One

Begin your thread roughly two eye lengths behind the hook eye and secure it with a jam knot. Then, run your thread back to the start of the hook's bend.

Step Two

Now create a small ball of thread right at the hook's bend. This will help splay the tail fibers, creating a more realistic profile.

Step Three

Select two mayfly tails and measure them to be roughly twice the length of the hook's shank. Once measured and the tips are evened, tie one on each side of the fly--it helps to make a loose wrap and then position the fibers how you want before locking them in with additional thread wraps. Wrap the excess material up to your initial tie-in point, then trim the excess and bring your thread to be just in front of the tail.

Step Four

Select a single fiber from the longer side of the turkey feather. Once selected, trim off the brittle section of the tip of the biot and tie it in by the tip, directly in front of the fly's tail. Then advance your thread to the initial tie-in point.

Step Five

The first wrap of your biot goes in between the two tail fibers. This ensures that they remain split while fishing. Once you've done that, wrap the biot forward with closely-touching wraps (using hackle pliers will make things easier). Once you've wrapped the biot up to the initial tie-in point, tie it off and trim the excess. An optional step is to add a drop of Zap-A-Gap to your first wrap to keep the tail fiber separated.

Step Six

Take a strip of Scud Back and tie it in on top of the hook shank with a wing extending on either side. This material can be quite slippery and hard to tame, so adding a drop of Zap-A-Gap to where you will tie the wings in can help.

Step Seven

Combine a bit of Sparkle Emerger Yarn with some Polypro Mcflylon and wrap it around your thread. Once around your thread, hit it with a dab of Zap-A-Gap and pull the wing directly up--this is a very easy way to ensure that this post is upright, and the glue really helps to lock it in.

Step Eight

Size your two hackle feathers to match the size of the hook that you're tying on. Once properly sized, trim some fibers off of the stem to create a tie-in point and tie them in one at a time just behind the wing post; then advance your thread to be just in front of the hook's eye.

Step Nine

First wrap the grizzly hackle. You should aim for roughly two wraps behind the wing and two wraps in front. Once you've wrapped the hackle, tie the feather off and trim the excess.

Step Ten

Now repeat the exact process that you did for step nine with the dark barred hackkle feather.

Step Eleven

Now secure your fly with a whip finish and cut the thread.

Step Twelve

Trim the wing post to be just a bit taller than your hackle. Once that's done, trim both of the scud back wings at an angle--you want each of these wings to also be just a bit longer than the hackle fibers.

The Candy Shop Calibaetis is now ready to be cast in front of a cruising fish the next time you find yourself surrounded by a cloud of spinners.