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One of the greatest attractions to fly fishing can also present one of the biggest barriers.
It’s the bugs.
The aquatic insects that make up the bulk of a trout’s food base are intriguing, but they’re also somewhat mysterious, especially at first. The hatch charts, the life cycles, and the various behaviors of mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies and midges come to the angler in a complex web of overlapping information that takes seasons or perhaps a lifetime to process.
Then there’s the crustaceans, like cress bugs and scuds — and even terrestrial insects at various times of the year. All of it — all of these bugs, and understanding how to imitate them with a fly — is perplexing for every new angler. And the truth is, many lifelong fishermen never take the time to learn much about the insects that trout eat.
Hatch matching seems synonymous with fly fishing for trout. And for decades, the focus on fooling fish was more fly-centric in this industry than anything else.
What fly should I use? That was the question. And it makes sense, because changing patterns is probably the easiest solution when trout won’t eat your fly. And in some cases, getting just the right fly in front of the trout (in just the right way) really does make the difference. But here’s the thing . . .
You don’t have to match the hatch.
Wonderful fishing can be had without knowing much about the hatches that we focus on in this episode. Really . . . don’t let the complexities of trout bugs stand in the way of going out there and enjoying a day on the water.
With that said, there’s no denying that a fundamental understanding of what trout eat both underneath and on top of the water absolutely helps catch more trout. After all, our goal is to get a trout to eat the fly, right? So knowing about trout foods only makes sense. Positive results are sure to follow.
The advanced angler explores the nuances of these bugs. Some insects are good swimmers and emerge fast, so a presentation outside of a pure dead-drifted nymph might be the trigger that turns trout on. Likewise, understanding the life cycle of a mayfly helps us realize why seeking out and imitating the spinner stage is one of the best dry fly opportunities on the river.
These are the kinds of things to know about trout bugs. This is why we follow the hatches. We pay attention and try to meet the trout on their own terms — give them more of what they’re eating right now.
Understanding everything we can about these bugs and how trout respond to them is a big piece of the puzzle that we’re trying to solve out there. And sometimes, it’s the keystone. Because at certain times, the bug life of a river is the central player in a trout’s daily life.
In this episode, I’m joined by my fishing friends, Trevor Smith, Bill Dell, Austin Dando, Josh Darling and Matt Grobe.
We Cover the Following
- Listener question about the sustainability of catch and release
- A walk-through of the major hatches throughout our season
- Differences from east to west and more
- How mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies and midges differ in their availability to trout
- Why spinner falls are such a great opportunity
- How the hatches affect our strategy from top to bottom
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Resources
READ: Troutbitten | You Don’t Have to Match the Hatch
READ: Troutbitten | The George Harvey Leader Design
READ: Troutbitten | Are We Taking the Safety of Trout Too Far?
READ: Troutbitten | In Defense of Catching and Counting Fish — Why numbers in the Net Matter
You can find the dedicated Troutbitten Podcast page at . . .
Season Three of the Troutbitten podcast continues with Episode 4 — How to Fight Bigger Trout
So look for that one in your Troutbitten podcast feed.
Fish hard, friends.
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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
A few things about fishing hatches that I wish I knew when I first started:
Finding large pods of happy trout feeding aggressively on a heavily concentrated hatch of mayfly duns is, by far, the exception and not the rule.
Predicting the when and where of a hatch occurring is nearly impossible. Hatch windows can be very brief and easy to miss.
Pay attention to rise forms! If fish are “rising” but you don’t see noses eating duns, they’re not.
Real mayflies and spinners are so much more delicate than most commercial flies. Take the time to carefully observe them on the river.
Aquatic insect populations can fluctuate significantly from year to year, river to river, or riffle to riffle. There are good bug years, not so good bug years, and bad bug years for each particular species.
Hatch reports from fly shops get the best spin possible. Drift boat guides have a very different perspective than the weekend wade angler when it comes to encountering hatches.
Selectivity is a highly overrated concept. All trout, especially big, wild browns have to be opportunistic feeders. When fish do “lock-in” (quasi-selective) during a steady hatch, just give it some time. The bugs will thin out before their desire to feed does!
Always fish into the dark.
Trout do not exhibit monolithic feeding behaviors, instead they are very much individuals. Try to find the happy ones.
If you decide to be a DFO angler than expect to spend most of your time waiting, searching, hunting, and wondering. Learn to enjoy the head-hunting as much as the catching.
Nothing beats a good, clean, surface eat from a large, wild brown trout!
I liked hearing about your love of late summer terrestrial fishing, Dom. Matching the hatch is great, but the fat splat of a terrestrial is even better. When I was a kid in NY, I fished a fly that was then fairly popular, the corker, originated by Bill McIntyre of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. It was really nothing more than a small cylinder of cork tied onto a hook and painted all kinds of colors (I preferred green and black). There was many a day when anglers all around me on the Beaverkill were not doing much while my corker was ringing the dinner bell.
First off, WOW, just WOW!
This may be the best 90 minutes ever put together on the topic if you are a PA angler. I’ve been chasing these hatches for 40 years with a background in aquatic entomology and you guys have condensed it down to 90 minutes of pure gold. Some really interesting observations that we are aligned on (Catskills dries for MB for instance – couldn’t agree more) and more that I learned from too. Great work. Now I have a question but regarding the efficiency episode: Why not carry 2 rods? I’ve been carrying a pair for the last 20 years or so because I find it efficient. 1 specifically rigged for nymphs (now almost always a mono-rig) and usually one set up with a dry fly leader, though sometimes in highwater or winter it’s a 6wt. set with a big streamer. At first you have to get used to setting one down strategically and also not forgetting it, after about a year you never forget it because it becomes part of the routine. Dom, you mention switching out in 1 – 1.5 minutes and I can do that admittedly maybe 2 minutes for me, but the reason I do this is to make myself stay open to moving to different options without feeling like it’s work. Curious about the group’s thoughts.
Again – great work on this season so far, givens me something to look forward to while I’m driving to the next spot!!!
Caught the answer on episode 5! Thanks
Cheers.
Where can I find Beadhead Utah Killer Bug flies?
I enjoy you podcasts.
Do you ever get into dobsonflies? I never hear anyone talk about them. So I imagine the aquatic larvae are the only life cycle worth fishing. But I would like to hear your thoughts.