These bugs can be a real handful when the hatch reaches its peak intensity.
If there are enough bugs to cover the boat, what do you think the fish are doing for dinner?

The black caddis on the Big Horn are case builders. They live underwater and attach a thread of silk from which they rappel in the current waiting for food to drift by.

Over time, and because of the fact that there are ssssoooooo many of these little guys the rappel lines begin to look like giant, underwater spider webs.

If you have ever floated the Big Horn after the river was lowered you may have seen all that mossy looking stuff hanging on riverside trees and bushes. A casual glance at this stuff merely defines the "high water" mark.
A closer look reveals what all that brown, mossy stuff really is. When the river is high the caddis larva attach their silk threads to the trees and bushes. When the river is lowered all those caddis webs look like this...
From August through September the Big Horn river trout feast on this incredible hatch. Prior to the actual emergence you can find big trout that have moved up into shallow riffles feeding on early emergers and anticipating the full blown action to come.

One of the most exciting aspects of the black caddis emergence is easily overlooked. By early afternoon we begin to see an increasing number of those aggressive, splashy rises happening in mid-river.

Since this just so happens to be hopper time, an easy assumption is that those loud, slurping, gulping rises that has your head spinning trying to locate them, are fish smashing hoppers.

Sometimes they are, but what many of those fish are so aggressively feeding on are early black caddis emergers. Drifting a hopper trailed by a caddis dry or emerger through the riffles is to say the least, a blast!

There is an aspect of the black caddis hatch that sadly causes many visiting fly-fishermen to miss out on the best action. More often than not, the best fishing really gets going after 5 or 6 in the evening. There just happens to be another area of concentrated action around this time of day. This is at the boat ramps, when many of the boats are lined up for the afternoon "rush hour" to get back to Fort Smith. If those fly-fishermen only knew what was going on back on the river during the drive back to Fort Smith, or while they were getting ready for dinner, they would be tempted to re-rig and make a mad dash to the water. Leaving the river too early and not seeing this hatch play itself out is like reading an entire book only to realize that the last few pages are missing. That is why I always ask my fishermen, "What time do YOU want to be back by?"

There are two ways that you can be on the water during this magical time: One is to have a guide who is not a clock watcher and is willing to stay out as long as it takes. The other is to get a later start in the morning. Believe me, just missing the sometimes insane morning ramp jam makes this worth it. When I began guiding I quickly earned a reputation for being one of the last boats off the river. This is great for my fishermen, not so great for the cooks back at the lodge.

The Black Caddis: A dry fly fisherman's dream