The Next Few Hatches 

By Michael S. Heck

 

    There are some great hatches that will be on our water over the next few weeks. I enjoy fishing over these hatches.  I expect good to great days if I can hit one of these hatches.  I have already fished over some great BWO hatches on Yellow Breeches.  Still, keep some nymphs handy and know how to use them.  There are just some days when the hatch is off.  The trout are still there, just need to go down to get them.  Below are a few tips on fishing these hatches.
BLUE- WINGED OLIVES

   The first of the mayflies to emerge on these unique waters is the Blue Winged Olive, Baetis vagans.  The B.W. Olive will begin to emerge in February when water temperatures begin to rise into the high forties to low fifties.  Heavier hatches will start towards the end of February lasting into May.  These mayflies are found emerging from approximately 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This mayfly is multi-brooded and will once again entice the angler in the fall of the year.   This mayfly is a welcomed sight for the year round angler because it offers the first dry fly activity of the year.
    The B. W. Olive nymph is dark to light olive in color.  Proper hook sizes would be  #16's and #18's.  The Baetis nymph can be found in riffles, slow pools and dense cress beds.  These nymphs are aggressive swimmers, but prior to emerging, they lose much of their energy.  A slow line retrieve best duplicates the gentile struggle of the natural insect.  Another method of duplicating the accent of the emerging nymph is the down-and-across technique.  Be prepared with many patterns of different sizes and color shades.  A trout may refuse one pattern to only take another offering. 
    Once an emerging nymph has successfully escaped from its shuck, it is now a winged adult.  During heavy hatches, trout will sometimes feed more readily on the emerging flies.  Try using floating nymphs and CDC emergers to take a trout.  Present the flies as you were fishing with dry flies.  Trout feeding on duns can be taken on a variety of patterns such as standard hackle ties, thorax patterns or parachutes.  A Compara-dun works well if the trout become very selective.  A well-stocked fly box should have many different patterns in 18's and 20's varying in shades of olive.

BLACK CADDIS
    As the weather begins to warm, Black Caddis, Chimarra aterrima, will be noticed on the streamside grasses and in the overhanging canopy.  The Black Caddis begins to emerge around 11:00 a.m. each day.  Caddisflies will be found emerging from April though July.  Trout feeding on caddis pupa will be noticeably slashing back and forth as they gorge themselves.  Try trying a LaFontaine Deep Sparkle Pupa or an Emergent Sparkle Pupa to the end of your tippet.  These two patterns and even the traditional wet fly do very well at fooling caddis hatching feeding trout.
    The adult caddisfly is entirely black.  The legs tend to form an invisible oval as they reach out from the body.  The wings of all caddis lay over the body of the fly instead of upright.  Trout feeding on adults become very selective, making long fine tippets a must.  Small imitations in 18 and 20’s are extremely important. 
    The best time to take advantage of the little black caddis would be during the evenings.  As the sun falls in the west, the caddis begin to egg-lay.  The female caddis pepper the water in incredible numbers.  Plus the caddis drift with the currents making for textbook dry fly fishing.  This is the time where standard dry fly techniques and a CDC or deer hair caddis easily matches the natural caddis.           

SULPHURS        

Sulphurs, Ephemerella invaria and dorothea, kick off the hatches of summertime.  Sulphurs start to emerge at the end of May and can last through July.  The sulphurs hatch from afternoon lasting into the evening providing excellent surface activity.  Both nymphs vary in shades of brown.  Sulphur nymphs are best imitated in sizes 14's through 18.  Sulphur nymphs are aggressive swimmers, and when emerging they wiggle up to the waters film.  Nymphs should be fished on the bottom prior to emergence.  As the nymphs begin to hatch, trout will begin to feed on the more available emerging nymphs.  Now patterns should be fished just below or within the surface film.  The larger sulphur, invaria, begins to emerge around late afternoon, and the dorotheas begin more towards evening.   
    The sulphurs duns will range in color, some will be a pale yellow and others will be yellow with varying shades of olive and orange.  Patterns in #16 and #18's will properly imitate these two species.  Be sure to make close observation to the feeding habits before a cast is made.  Trout become very selective during a sulphur hatch, so be sure to have many different patterns for this hatch.
    After the sulphur duns molt into spinners, they move over the riffles to mate.  Within minutes, sulphur spinners fall to the water ending their life cycle.  The spinner fall occurs shortly before or at dusk.  Extra attention should be taken in the early stages of the spinner fall!  The sulphur duns and the spinners can be present simultaneously.  Sulphur imitations with light rusty fur bodies and hackle wings trimmed in spent and half-spent versions should be on hand for the spinner fall. 
    I hope this helps.  Just a few hatches that will entice trout and us fly fisherman.  There is much more to know about these hatches, but this is a start.  My book, "Spring Creek Strategies" go into more detain with these hatches, pattern and techniques. 
           So I invite you to come spend a day on a few on our numerous streams.  The area is so fortunate to have such a diversity of trout water.  These streams can challenge the best of fly angler and can treat the beginner to a fine day.  You can contact the Orvis Endorsed Mike Heck’s Trout Guides for guiding and destination trip needs by e-mail trout@mris.com or phone at 717-261-0070.