Lititz Run, 7/2/07

[jhguster23]

Fished Lititz in the lower meadow sections from about 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. last night. Water was very cool after several cool days. Water in the stream was extremely low, which interfered with presentation...very hard to get a drag free drift.

For the second time in as many visits, fish were rising like crazy! The insects that I saw in the air were pretty big. The last time I was there, there were a lot of caddis in the air. Thinking that history repeats itself, I tied on an EHC in brown. No takers.

Switched to a sulfur imitation, size 14, again nothing. Switched to a Quill Gordon, a little smaller, skunked. In an hour, after witnessing literally hundreds of rises, I got absolutely nothing.

As I was walking back to my car, I noticed a spider web on a fence with a bunch of what appeared to be tiny, tiny pale mayflies stuck in it. I'm going to say in the size 22 range approximately. What "hatch" would this be considered to be? Is there a recommended imitation?

On a side note, having fished Lititz multiple times over the past several years, I believe the insect activity is beginning to really pick up. Curious if anyone else has noticed this?

 

[LehighGuide]

Male tricos hatch in the early evening on many streams but their more lightly colored female counterparts usually hatch in the morning. So I would guess that they're either female tricos trapped in the webs at another point in time or you witnessed a Caenis hatch. The Brits call it the Caenis the Angler's Curse because of their size, but then again Caenis are much smaller than a #22, more along the lines of a #28-32, and oh what fun.

 

[jayL]

My favorite caenis immitation is a size 14 PT/green weenie or globug fished nice and deep.

Gets a few fish every time.

If that doesn't work I swear at the fish and go home.


For what it's worth I've seen many a good caddis hatch turn into a delightful caenis event at the end. You can still get them on larger flies but it gets nice and tough.

 

[LehighGuide]

Sorry as far as what flies to imitate them, if they are in fact Caenis. I would recommend that you get a couple of beers, if you're old enough, and sit on the bank and enjoy the show because in all of the years of fishing I've done I've seen very few trout caught during a Caenis hatch and I've watched some pretty good anglers try on many occasions. Me and a few friends tried for a few weeks to tie different Caenis imitations and use them whenever we encountered the hatch and we were rarely successful(success equalled one fish in hours of fishing) but I did manage to catch a few on a Caenis Cluster fly that I made once. Now when I see the hatch I look for somewhere else to fish.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

my guess would b midges, midges and more midges. that stream has tons of them and i never recommend leaving home without them!

i havent noticed more mayflies on that stream yet. but you should try and adams next time. i have been having luck with adams and a quill gordon wet as a dropper or a cress bug.