Thoughts on Spring Flyfishing by: The Bug Guy
March 29, 2012, 8:53 am
For the majority of those of us who fly fish, the 50/50 rule tends to dictate whether or not we journey out to the water to wet a line. The 50/50 rule? At least 50 degrees and no more than 50 feet from your vehicle of course. As this year’s relatively mild winter prematurely begins to release its grip on our local rivers and reservoirs our thoughts begin to turn to warm spring days, and the chance for many of us to land our first trout of the season. My mind tends to wonder in a slightly different direction. Insects! Yes, aquatic invertebrates, the very fulcrum and arguable the most essential cog in the wheel when it comes to fly fishing.
Two weeks ago I conducted my monthly 2 day lecture and streamside aquatic entomology class on the Boy Scout property in 11 mile canyon. To suggest that biomass and bio diversity was absolutely stupendous is indeed an understatement. Between me and my students we literally collected thousands of aquatic insects within only a few minutes. As I emptied my dip net into the collecting tray, the students were astounded as they looked down at a myriad of different aquatic orders that had unwittingly become the stars of our scientific activities. As an instructor, the most gratifying moment during my streamside class is watching the eyes of my students, no matter their age or background, light up with complete amazement, when they see their first tray of specimens collected from the river.
By the end of our two hours on the water, we had collected over six species of stoneflies, ranging from the largest three species that occur on the South Plate, Claassenia sabulosa, Hesperoperla pacifica, Skwala americana, to some of the smaller species, Isoperla sp. just to name a few. Our collecting trays were also rife with countless species of BWOs (Baetidae) as well as many other species of Mayflies. We collected at least six species of case making Caddisflies, aquatic earthworms, three species of crustaceans, and numerous Chironomids (Midges) in larva, pupa and adult stages of development. We were even fortunate to collect the larva of the little known and rarely collected aquatic Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths), Petrophila sp. The list goes on and on.
The message here is simply, this spring, before you boldly march out to the river with fly rod in hand and begin frantically casting in the hopes of hooking in to your first trout of the year, stop for moment, slow down, gently lean your pre-rigged fly rod up against a limb, walk up to the river and become an observer. Dip your seine into a riffle, turn over a rock, look around for hatches, or adult insects resting on streamside vegetation. Not only will this make you a better fly fisher, but more importantly it will help you to have a deeper appreciation for the complexity and fragility of the aquatic environment you are literally about to walk in to.
Who knows, maybe by stepping back for a brief instant you will be inspired to turn around, grab your fly rod and cut off those flies, that you were so sure were the “right” patterns before you left the house.
*Robert Younghanz, aka The Bug Guy, is a guide and instructor at The Angler’s Covey Fly Shop. For more information on aquatic entomology for the Rocky Mountain West, check out my Robert’s new 2 DVD set. The Bug Guy: Aquatic Entomology for the Fly Fisher.
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