Neshannock Creek, Lawrence Co, DHALO 05/15/10

[ryguyfi]

Fished from about 8-12. Walked down the path to the clearing where the gas line is. I tied on a wooly bugger due to the water being up a bit and tossed it in the water as I got situated on shore. Had a strike while I wasn't even ready. I continued to fish it down and across and had a few other strikes, one being a large brown who porposed up to take the bugger near the top and I missed the set. Still waiting on that 20" trout. I landed a few fish down there, walked back up to the shop and fished up there for about 30 min and then bought a few things in the shop and shot the breeze with Bob. Most fish caught were on a dark brown bead head HE sz 14.

The stream overall was in pretty good shape. The water was up, but clearing throughout the day. Didn't get a temp, but still a bit chilly. Now for the bugs... Down by the gas line I saw a lot of micro's early on, then came the caddis around 8:30-9am, and then the sulphurs started about an hour after that. Throughout all of that I saw a good amount of small yellow crane flies, and another mayfly about a sz 12 that I couldn't catch but assumed it was a March Brown (only saw about 10 of those total). The wierd thing was that I walked back to the shop and there was little to no bug activity at all up there. I saw about a half dozen sulphurs come off, but that was it. It was like I was at 2 completely different streams and it was only a 15 minute walk between spots.

Had a nice day on the stream, it was good to get out. I might try to hit the spinnerfall on Tuesday night if I can squeeze it out. Hoping the sulphurs will have a nice spinnerfall by then.


Ryan


(not a great picture of the sulphur, still working out the settings on my new camera)

 

[PennKev]

That bug might actually fall into the realm of BWO. The size and color aren't quite right for the sulphurs I'm used to, but then again, I notice you were using your home made pin-hole camera to take that shot... ;-)

Seriuosly, though I've seen BWO's hatch in good numbers on some stretches of Neshannock this time of year and they look a lot like that. Also the morning hatch time is more typical of BWO's.

I've also seen good hatches of yellow stoneflies this time of year too. I'll have to check my notes for specifics...

Kev

 

[ryguyfi]

The pic really darkened the fly itself. (I've got to get to know my new camera a bit better) They were def a light cream color, 3 tails and about a sz 14-16. I didn't see any stones. I only saw a few risers and they seemed to be picking up emergers just below the surface, I'm assuming the caddis.

 

[PennKev]

Do you have a macro setting? It can be hard to focus on close objects without switching to macro. The camera tries to focus on the background when the object you want to photograph is so close to the lens. I botched a bunch of pictures of wild brookies last week by not changing the settings...

 

[ryguyfi]

Do all BWO's just have 2 tails? The flies I witnessed had 3 short tails, solid color in cream. Invaria?

 

[bikerfish]

nice report Ryan! good to see reports for our western streams, those eastern guys are kicking our butts with stream reports! I'd post one but I haven't fished in a week!!!! I'm starting to get the shakes. hopefully tomorrow evening I'll make it our somewhere, and I'll post a report on it!!

 

[PennKev]

If they were small and cream I would refer to them as Cahills and call it a day. Such bugs are pretty common from now until the end of the warm months. Their hatch activity will pick up towards evening but I've seen them hatch during the day as you've described. I just wouldn't call them Sulphurs, as we very well could see some of those too. But, to be honest, I've never seen what I would describe as a "hatch" of sulphurs on Neshannock. I've seen a lot of cahills and caught fish over them, but sulphurs tend to be sparse. But I also usually fish the lower end of the creek rather than the DHALO during the evening.

In my experience the "fishable" mayfly hatches on Neshannock are:

BWOS's - Variety of different species, but they are pretty common early morning. Once we get to the late spring low and clear conditions, fish will take them on the surface pretty regularly.

Blue Quills - Common during the late spring and early summer and can hatch during the day, but mid mornign is most common. BQ nymphs fished at the head of a run can catch a lot of fish.

Cahills - Evenings are best, fish will take nymphs and emergers pretty well, the duns sometimes get ignored.

And to a lesser extent:

March Browns - Not a concentrated hatch, but I've had good mid-day success fishing dries when they are around. Also farily big so larger flies work.

Brown Drakes - Heavy activity during the evening and night but can also get the trout to do stupid things durign the day. I remember a few years back, I fished a size #8 dry during mid day and took several fish. The only downside is the short window you have to hit the hatch.

Isonychia (Slate Drake) - Similiar situation as the march browns. However, it is usually too warm for good fishing when the Slate drakes are at their peak, but if conditions are good, the nymphs work well. I caught a 15" smallmouth on an Iso nymph last year. Also, some parts of Slippery Rock have pretty strong numbers and the rocks along the bank will be covered in the shucks from the nymphs.


Kev

 

[ryguyfi]

I saw some Cahills come off about 1/3 ratio of the brown drakes during a heavy drake hatch last year. They were almost a chartreuse in color; very bright. I don't know if the fish rose to them due to the drakes and it being dark by the time the risers really started to come out. I hope I can hit the hatch again this year. Fished the drakes on May 29th, and with the short hatch I never know if I can make it in a short time span.

 

[ryguyfi]

uhh ohh...


http://www.ncflyshop.com/news.stm



Bob referred to them as Cahills in his news section. On another note, pending the fishing at the JAM, I may leave early enough to fish the spinnerfall of the brown drakes on the way home at the Neshannock on Sunday evening. If that's the case, anyone is more than welcome to join.