The Screaming Banshee

During warmer months, the evening rise is an eagerly awaited highlight of the fishing day. The burst of activity can seem a blessing, but given the short time frame, the wrong choice of fly can see the rise slipping away as you scramble to make changes. Although the insect being taken is usually easy to pick, the dim evening light can make it difficult to discern the stage of the hatch being targeted by the trout. Having a pattern that covers several stages greatly increases the chances of success.

One of the more common evening insects is the caddis fly. Caddis make up the order Trichoptera, the name derived from the Greek Thrix meaning hair, and Pteron, wing — alluding to their hair covered wings as opposed to the scale covering of true moths.

Caddis can present all stages of their adult life-cycle during an evening rise, emerging early in the evening when the trout often take them with a subtle bulging rise. The adult caddis then take to the wing and gather above the stream to mate, before the females return to the water to deposit their eggs. Depending on species this can involve dropping the egg bundle from above, dapping repeatedly on the water, or skating across the surface.

The trout respond by jumping for caddis on the wing or make slashing rises as they grab skating females.Finally there will be some spent caddis on the surface, and these are picked off quietly by the trout as darkness falls and the rise comes to an end.

Knowing when to change patterns in response to feeding behaviour is the key to effectively fishing through the limited time available. Having a pattern that covers more than one stage is a blessing in this regard. The Screaming Banshee, developed by Charlie Craven, possibly goes one better in covering all the stages present during the evening rise.

Charlie lives in Colorado, has tied commercially since he was twelve and guided on rivers such as the South Platte for more than 10 years. He now runs his own store, Charlie’s FlyBox, in Arvada. The countless hours he has spent on the water and the accumulation of observations made during this time have been keys to the development and success of his Banshee.

Charlie drew initial inspiration from skating moose-hair flies for steelhead, such as the Bomber and Waller Walker, where forward facing hair creates a planing surface at the front of the fly to help it skate across the surface. A small clump of elk hair provided the skate Charlie was after. The addition of a split deer hair wing gave the illusion of fluttering wings while adding a wide surface area to both assist in floatation and to form a large surface ‘footprint’ similar to a spent adult. Finally, tying the pattern on a curved grub hook allowed the shiny pearlescent abdomen to poke through the surface film, hanging down like an emerger. While initially starting out as a skating caddis pattern, these additional design elements resulted in a fly that covers all the major stages of the evening caddis hatch.

SCREAMING BANSHEE

Hook: Curved grub #12–16

Thread: Veevus 16/0 brown

Forward wing: Elk hair

Abdomen: Pearl UNI-Mylar #12

Thorax: Tiewell Super Possum, dark brown

Wing: Deer hair

Back: Elk hair butts

TYING NOTES

1. Lay down short thread base.

2/3. Tie in elk hair and trim two-thirds of the butts.

4/5. Wrap down evenly and tie in Mylar.

6/7. Wind Mylar forward and dub thorax.

8. Tie in trimmed deer hair.

9. Divide wing, bring elk hair forward and tie off.

10. Trim excess and whip finish.

To tie the Banshee, place a suitable grub hook in the vice, attach your thread behind the eye and lay down a short base. Neatly stack a small bunch of fine elk hair (deer hair works as well but may flare a little more). Measure a shank length back from the tips and, while holding the hair firmly, tie in with a few tight turns so the hair extends forward over the eye but does not spin around the hook. Lift up two-thirds of the butt ends and trim them off close to your thread, then wrap down the hook shank evenly. Leave the remaining elk hair hanging out the back to be folded over Humpy-style later on.

Next a length of pearl Uni Mylar, or similar flash, is tied in and the thread returned to just behind the elk hair. Wind the mylar forward with overlapping wraps to produce an even, shiny abdomen then tie off and trim any excess. Tightly dub a small amount of dubbing onto your thread and wrap a short, plump thorax. Although the majority of caddis species are fairly drab, with body colours of browns and greys, some species have bright green or yellow bodies and these should be matched accordingly.

Clip a generous bunch of fine deer hair, clean out the underfur and stack to even up the tips. Again measure a shank length and while holding the hair by the tips trim off the excess. Hold firmly to avoid the hair spinning and use two or three tight wraps to tie in directly behind the elk hair with the tips facing backwards.

Divide the deer hair with scissor points or a dubbing needle and carefully spread to the sides, then bring the remaining elk hair butts forward over the abdomen between the deer hair wings and tie off with a couple of tight wraps at the same point as the deer hair.

Move the thread forward to underneath the elk hair tips and whip finish. A final trim of the excess elk hair butts, some head cement, and the Screaming Banshee is complete.

Although named after a female spirit of Irish mythology, whose cries warn of an impending death in the family, the Screaming Banshee is a complete package for the evening caddis hatch, giving you confidence that whatever stage the fish are keyed into, you have it covered. Plus it’s a cool name to rattle off when asked what you got your fish on.

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