TYING SUPERPUPPAN
Lennart Bergqvist invented Superpuppan just before the beginning of the fly fishing season of 1983. Lennart had figured out that the essential parts of a caddis emerger imitation were the colors of the body and the legs. The simple fly has proven to be an excellent imitation of the emerging caddis, and it is a great dry fly pattern for beginners.
Materials for Superpuppan
| Part: | Materials: | Size/Color: |
| Hook: | Akita | AK533BL #12 |
| Thread: | UTC | Dark Brown 70 |
| Hackle: | Dry Fly Hackle | Speckled Badger |
| Body: | Antron Dubbing | Cahill Cream |
| Thorax: | Rabbit Fur | Brown |
Video Instructions on How to Tie Superpuppan
Video coming soon.Slideshow on How To Tie Superpuppan
Step 1 – Build Up the Body
Lennart Bergqvist tied the original on Mustad 94833 hooks in sizes #18 to #8. For the body, he used Fly-Rite and a darkish body hackle. He tied the fly in different color combinations like grey/black, olive/brown, and yellow/brown.
Start tying in your thread and build up an even thread base until you reach the hook’s bend. Tie in a dry fly hackle feather with the dull side towards you. The hackle fibers are supposed to point forward on the fly.
Make a small dubbing noodle and build up the body. Try to taper it. The length should be approximately 3/5 of the hook shank. Make a new dubbing noodle with the darker dubbing. Build up the thorax. Make sure to save some space for the fly’s head.
Step 2 – Make the Hackle
Make even turns with the dry fly hackle, and make sure that the hackle fibers are pointing towards the hook’s eye. This is important to get the correct movement of the legs. You can trim the hackle to give it the Superpuppan-look when you have tied off the hackle and secured the head with a whip finish or a few half-hitches and varnish. Trim away the fibers on the underside and the topside of the body. (See the last picture in the slideshow.)
How to Fish the Superpuppan
Superpuppan imitates a caddis nymph swimming towards the shore to hatch, so you are supposed to strip the fly on the surface, but you can also fish it dead drift. You can also fish the fly wet to imitate a diving caddis.
Read more about how Superpuppan was invented on the Swedish website rackelhanen.se
