Learning hatches/Bugs

[jolie]

Yes, obviously reading...

but do you guys spend alot of times swoping streamside mayflies with butterfly nets or turning over rocks for nymphs. Can you identify nymphs (they look pretty similar to me), or do you wait for the hatch?

Are they general hatches that happen in almost any PA freestone stream? It's no fair to mention hatch charts-- almost none of the streams I fish have them.

Last question, thought. I have two local streams - on one I can always find a few brown mottled mayfly nymphs and on the other nymphs (except for caddis cases) seem completely absent. Does this mean that this poorer stream won't be as good to fly fish and that the many mayfly nymphs and imitations are useless here??

This second stream is rather rocky-- but I've never seen stonefly nymphs here either... are they difficult to find (under rocks), or since i've looked and not found any, perhaps there isn't any...

Jason

 

[Padraic]

I don't remember any butterfly nets, but a hat or landing net will catch mayflies fairly well. Spiderwebs are even better. And if you head out early in the morning you should see a bunch of mayflies caught in them. During heavy hatches, some spiders seem to lack the will to keep up and the mayflies just hang there unmolested. Shaking the trees and bushes will turn up streamside insects. Just be careful that there are no bees! And remember that caddis like tufts of grass along the streambank, so check those too.

And yes, I would definately recommend turning over rocks, as you've been doing. As you look closely at them, you'll notice the differences. Especially as you read more about them. Stoneflies need a lot of oxygen. So if the stream where you are not finding them is slow moving, flat (no waterfalls or riffles), warm or silty, you won't find them. Many species of stoneflies hatch and oviposit at night though. So there may be some afterall. The lil black stonefly and lil yellow sally are very common, but the nymphs are small and may be hard to find. A neat way to know if a nymph is a stonefly is that they need a great deal of oxygen. When you lift up a rock and look at it, the stoneflies will be doing pushups. They are trying to pump what water there is over their gills. Once you know that, they sort of "jump out" at you as you turn over rocks.

Hatch Charts for nearby streams are helpful. You may find that the famous streams have more hatches than your local put'ntake water, but the hatches you do have on the local stream may come off at about the same time. Or you'll find that the hatches are shifted by a week as you go north, or higher in elevation. Also remember that hatches travel upstream. So if you are talking to a guy who says you just missed the hatch two days ago, hop in the car and ride upstream. You may catch it in the headwaters. I always use the Hatch Chart for Penns Creek from the Feathered Hook. I look for my favorite hatches on one freestone a week ahead of Penns, and a local tailwater at the same time. Of course, I don't get the Green Drake or Grannom, but March Browns, tan caddis and Isonychia (and many others)are widely dispersed throughout PA.

One more thought, I wouldn't bit off being a hatchmaster in your first year of flyfishing. Get decent at tying knots, casting and reading the stream. The hatch stuff will come. For now, you can carry a bunch of "generic flies", catch the bugs and say "hmm, sort of mdm brown and size 16... I think I have that". Having special boxes for the each week of May and June can come later.

 

[Acristickid]

I find troutnut . com to be helpful. The have nice pictures of insects to help you identify.

 

[dryflyguy]

Pad pretty much answered all your questions well, - but my 2 cents worth:

Being pretty much a strictly dry fly fisherman, the main thing I look for on the stream are rises. And I devote a lot of effort to it.
I even try - when possible - to park close to the stream - so that I can keep glancing out while I'm stringing up the rod and putting on my waders. I also make a point of eating my lunch at a spot with a view of a nice pool. You'd be surprised at the number of times of spotted rises while doing this. And, if nothing shows close to the vehicle, walking up or downstream often pays off

There are some hatches that are more prevalent than others - blue winged olives, sulphers, and caddis are pretty common on almost any decent stream. As for knowing when they will be hatching, - that is best learned by experience IMO. Hatch charts can be helpfull, but weather and stream conditions can really affect timing

 

[sandfly]

I studied under schweibert so i look at all phases, and tie to match....I use screening, butterfliy nets..and hats...

 

[jolie]

ok, I've done some quick researches on the major hatches that I might see, and trying to group similar looking bug, the major mayfly hatches are

Blue Wing Olives /Blue Quills
Hendrickson /Grey Fox
Red Quills
March Brown
Sulfur / pale morning /Light cahill?

thus to be as simple as possibe, I guess I need the following dry flies:

Little blue/ yellow (14-16)
Med Red / Grey
Larger Brown (10-12)

But you never see Patterns named this... in fact fly patterns seem to be a whole new language.

How do I take my suspected hatches and buy a small assortment that can match these major hatches?? Can I economically buy an assortment that would handle the mayflies listed (as well as perhaps a few spinners)??

Jason

PS. this is not to mimimize the caddis, which i know is common where I fish.. But I already have a caddis selection -- pupa, cases and adults... I can match that hatch.

 

[JackM]

If you are trying to lighten your load a bit,

The March Brown and Grey Fox shouldn't require separate patterns;

The Red Quill is unnecessary if you have both light and dark hendrickson patterns;

BWOs and Blue Quills can probably be covered by the same pattern if it is a deep olive color.

Buy emergers/parachute patterns for each hatch you expect.

But what the heck do I know about hatches, being from Southwest PA as I am.

 

[jayL]

You can get some yellowish dries and emergers from sizes 14-18, and it should cover you through a good part of the summer.

 

[FarmerDave]

That is exactly why the Adams was created. It looks a little like everything and a lot like nothing. It can even be used during a caddis hatch. It is arguably the most common dry fly used (I read that someplace). Tie them regular and parachute. Also, a few Adams wet flies are a good thing to have.

For nymphs, Hairs ear and Pheasant tail in multiple sizes covers most mayfly nymphs. Then you have the Prince nymph. It is the adams of the nymphs. It also looks a little like everything and a lot like nothing.

Here is the thing. No matter how many flies you carry… more often than not, you will still not have the one that you feel that you need.

 

[JeffK]

I will add my 2 cents:

Observing is a big part of fly fishing, but starting out just looking at size and color will get you a long way.

For example, for nymphs carry pheasant tails, hare's ears, and green caddis in assorted sizes. Pick up a rock and get a general impression of the bugs. How big are they? Are they dark or light? Are they mostly green wormy looking things? Select what you use based on general impression. Pretty soon the different nymphs will start looking different and you will be on your way.

Same with dries. Can start with Adams and parachute sulphurs in 12 to 18. Are the bugs hatching light or dark and how big are they.

Emergers and caddis complicate the mix, but start with something. One idea might be hares ear and green soft hackles. Do the same dark or light and rough size thing.

If there is something in large numbers that you don't have a fly for, find a fly to match. Soon you will have a good selection. Ask other guys on the stream, look at books, etc when you start seeing some bug that fish are after. It is hard to learn it all before hand, it is easier when you are motivated by field experience.

One final suggestion, when looking for bugs look at differences between streams and in different sections of a stream. Different streams in an area mostly have the same hatches, but there are differences. The bugs in a stream may be different in different section of the stream. Start noticing what is around the pools and what is around the riffles. Some riffles have better hatches than others and get a general impression if there are more bugs flying around at different spots.

Have fun with it all!

 

[Padraic]

An entire book has been written on minimizing the patterns one needs to carry to imitate the hatches a fly angler is likely to see.

An Anglers Guide to Aquatic Insects and Their Imitations

I don't have my copy handy, but the bottom line is the Pheasant Tail looks like 90% of the mayfly hatches out there. The trick though, is that some of those nymphs will be active in the riffles, others swim around in the pools. So it helps to know how to present all those patterns.

If you really want to go with a small number of patterns, I would recommend tying a bunch of white flies and carrying prisma markers. When you catch a bug on the stream, you can pull out the correct size fly and color it to match. I've never done it, but some guys swear by this.