Lightweight and Soft

But at the end of the day, as Cheech and I have been finding, a good soft hackle selection in your callibaetis box is a must. We had some crazy good results with his Callibaetis Soft Hackle (you can see the tutorial and material list here) and a few other patterns still in the works.
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A nice Brookie that was gorging on Callibaetis nymphs |
The genesis for this pattern was driven mostly out of the need to have a good buggy nymph that didn't sink too quickly. After one trip where I realized most of my Callibaetis were sinking too quickly, I added a few of these to the mix on the next trip out and found they were the ticket for times when fish were focusing on bugs closer to the surface.
Material List
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Hook: Fulling Mill 35085 Nymph Hook, Barbless - 14


Thread: UTC Ultrathread 70 Denier - Tan


Tail: Nature's Spirit Primo Partridge Skin, Natural


Body: Nature's Spirit Stripped Wild Turkey Barred Biots - Callibaetis


Hot Spot: Ice Dub - UV Hot Orange


Thorax: Ice Dub - Olive Brown


Hackle: Whiting 4B Hen Cape - Greenwell


Other tools from the tutorial:
C&F Design Biot Pliers ![]() ![]() |
C&F Design Bobbin ![]() ![]() |
Tiemco Razor Scissors ![]() ![]() |
And if you're looking for more Callibaetis patterns, here are a few:
- Wally Wing Callibaetis (dry)
- Biot CDC Callibaetis (dry)
- Callibaetis Comparadun (dry)
- Deep Dish Callibaetis (nymph)
- Callibaetis Soft Hackle (nymph/emerger)