Dry FliesMossback
Alice Conba's pattern features distinctive dubbed body with mottled coloring mimicking moss-covered insects. Earthy tones and textured materials create natural presentation in streams with aquatic vegetation. CDC wings provide reliable flotation while soft hackle adds subtle movement. Particularly effective in pocket water and along weed beds.
Spring, Summer, Fall
Intermediate
Trout
Feb 2026
Overview
Alice Conba's Mossback features a distinctive dubbed body with mottled coloring that mimics the appearance of moss-covered insects. The pattern's earthy tones and textured materials create a natural presentation in streams with aquatic vegetation. CDC wings provide reliable flotation while the soft hackle adds subtle movement. The design works particularly well in pocket water and along weed beds where trout expect dislodged insects with organic debris attached.
Materials
Hook: Partridge Barbless Ideal Nymph #10-16
Thread: Benecchi 12/0, tan
Weight: Lead wire, thorax only
Rib: Copper wire, fine
Tail: European hare face guard hair
Abdomen: European hare face hair - in split thread
Wing case: Peacock herl
Behavior & Presentation
Natural Behavior: Spent caddis drift downstream after egg-laying, wings splayed and body low in the meniscus, too exhausted to fly again. These dying insects represent effortless calories for opportunistic feeders who prefer vulnerable prey that cannot evade capture.
Where Trout Eat It: Excels in pocket water and runs along weed beds in freestone streams. Particularly effective on spring creeks with heavy aquatic vegetation where naturalistic earth tones succeed.
How to Fish It: Cast upstream and dead drift along weed beds and pockets where dislodged insects concentrate. The textured materials suggest organic debris attached to naturals that trout expect in vegetated areas. Dead drift matches the helpless floating behavior that triggers surface feeds.
Best Water: Focus on pockets, runs where trout hold and actively feed.
Strike Type: Watch for quiet, methodical takes in pockets where fish inhale the low-riding spent caddis. The strike appears as gentle surface disturbance rather than splashy rises.
Fishing Strategy
Rigging Suggestions: Fish on 9-12 foot leader with 4X-5X tippet. Target feeding lanes along weed beds and drop-offs where dislodged insects concentrate and trout hold.
Seasonal Timing: Most effective during terrestrial season June through September when water temperatures range 55-70°F. Peak activity occurs during mid-day periods when terrestrials dislodge from vegetation and drift along weed beds.
Pro Tips: Mottled coloring mimics moss-covered insects that trout regularly encounter along vegetated areas. CDC wings provide reliable flotation while soft hackle adds subtle movement matching dislodged naturals in current.
Entomology
Spent caddis drift downstream after egg-laying, wings splayed and body low in the meniscus, too exhausted to fly again. These dying insects represent effortless calories for opportunistic feeders who prefer vulnerable prey that cannot evade capture.
- Order
- Trichoptera
- Common Name
- Caddisfly
- Organism Type
- insect
- Life Stage
- adult