Sulpher

L

LouM

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Joined
Sep 21, 2006
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489
While I was fishing the Saucon, today, I saw the first Invaria come off, it won't be long now.
 
as old as you are , sure there not spots in front of your eyes..
 
Saw two on Muddy Creek this morning.
 
I totally detest contrarian know-it-alls, but let me put my toe in the water. I'm thinking you say a gray fox or some similar yellow clinger nymph mayfly. In my 7 years living in the Lehigh Valley, fishing that more than any other, I never saw sulfurs earlier than May 15. They would trickle a bit for about 3 days and only got going good by the 17-18th. And when I lived there, we had some really dry winters and springs and warm weather. There are a good number off those bugs there but the fish never seems to get turned onto them on the surface. But it's a good sign to fish a sz. 14 mayfly nymph.
Syl
 

I dunno, I'd thought I saw one yesterday on the Monocacy in a web.

There was some nice insect activity at Saucon tonight, but nothing was rising in the very long pool I'd ended my day at, only one random take.

I couldn't buy a take last night, either.
 
gfen; They were taking soft hackles up to about 1:00 then they shut down. Got 2 missed 4.
 
Saw them on the Little J on Saturday. not a lot but they were there.
 
Sylvaneous: I have been fly fishing for over 60yrs I think I know a sulpher when I see one, and I do know a dorthea from a invaria. Just because you have never seen one this early doesn't mean others havent.

 
there were a bunch coming off on the J late last week. Quite a few risers too...
 
LouM wrote:
gfen; They were taking soft hackles up to about 1:00 then they shut down. Got 2 missed 4.
Click to expand...

I didn't show up 'til about 3, and I decided to fish a part of the stream I never see anyone at first, too.

Not sure how I felt about the change in my pattern. This is why I don't leave my creek. Change is bad.
 
they were poping on spring
 

Pooping or Popping? That one missing letter means a world of difference.

Was Frederick there? According to HA, if so, it was probably the former.
 
Sulphers are probably the most widespread and long lasting hatches in PA.


It's my money, and I need it now!
 
I find it interesting - some fishermen felt/claimed that last year all of the hatches were "early" because of the somewhat warm Spring, but this year it appears that the hatches are "right on time" despite a very cold Spring...
I really didn't notice that the hatches were much earlier last year than years past. Maybe the weather had more people out and about seeing things the way that they are in a "normal" Spring.
Just a thought...
 
This spring has not been that cold, just very wet...

That said, the reasoning behind these things is sometimes kind of tough to predict. But yes, last year things were unmistakably early.
 
gutcutter,

here in the sw, I've yet to see a sulphur. Caddis in full force though. Last year, we were having blizzards of grannoms in late march.. that is a tad early.
 
Pure speculation: most bugs have a 3-4 week window the following year when they must hatch come hell or high-water. I would think that high-water has little to nothing to do, except in that it may mask the daylight hours, the increase/decrease of which is a biological trigger in all the organic world as we know it. Almost as crucial must be water temperature. I think some bugs can be early, some on time and some a little later based on water temperature, because some bugs have a range of temperature that triggers emergence that is wider than others, you may have early caddis and late Quill Gordon, early March Browns, but late sulfurs. Essentially, though, all factors usually combined to proscribe a definite 2-3 week period when you are bound to see any particular bug. Using one specie's "lateness" to predict the 'lateness" of a different species is probably more likely to result in error than in accuracy. A good strategy for catching a hatch is to wait until the hatch gets burned on PAFF, then hop in the car and chase it.
 
pcray1231 wrote:
This spring has not been that cold, just very wet...
Click to expand...

yeah, below 32 degrees air temp almost the entire month of march and into mid april really is pretty normal, huh.
having said that, as jack stated above, it is the stream temp and the amount of light in the day that determines hatching activity, not air temps or weather conditions
 
Where do you live? I think we had 1 frost in the month of April here in the SE.

The NWS data only goes up to the end of Feb. that I could find, and for the winter, most of PA ran 1-2 degrees cooler than average, which isn't that much.

For more recent, I can get # of above normal days and # of below normal days, but not the actual average from accuweather.

Using State College (chosen because center of state), using the accuweather data:

April:
http://www.accuweather.com/us/pa/state-college/16801/forecast-month.asp?mnyr=4-01-2011

Highs: 14 above normal, 16 below normal
Lows: 20 above normal, 9 below normal, 1 exactly normal.

Note, this is typical with a rainy pattern, more constant temperature due to cloud cover = lower highs and higher lows, but the same average temp, which is what matters.

March:
http://www.accuweather.com/us/pa/state-college/16801/forecast-month.asp?mnyr=3-01-2011

Highs: 17 above normal, 13 below normal, 1 normal
Lows: 15 above normal, 14 below normal, 2 normal
 
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