Friday, May 16, 2008
Matching May's hatch
Mayflies can emerge year-round, but now's the best time for heavy action.
Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times
A brown mayfly imitation fooled this chunky wild rainbow trout during a modest evening hatch on an Alleghany County stream. While books and videos can provide a decent introduction to fishing mayfly hatches, nothing beats spending time on the water, ideally with a seasoned mentor.
Like the real bugs they mimic, imitation mayflies come in a variety of sizes and colors.
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
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His fly rods and fly boxes packed, Bob Jenkins heads off to the Bahamas early Saturday morning.
The Roanoke College professor emeritus is going down with a group of students from the school, but he'll find some time to chase bonefish, barracuda and some of those other tropical species that lure anglers to the islands.
It's the kind of trip some fishermen dream of.
"I don't want to go," Jenkins said Wednesday, only half-joking. "I'd rather stick around and follow the hatches."
Such is the thinking of a true trout nut, a unique breed for whom it's all about the hatches, those magical natural moments when bugs transform from creepy, crawly underwater critters into fluttering fliers.
Those hatches, which usually peak in the springtime, put those bugs in the cross hairs of hungry trout, which themselves become vulnerable to anglers during the resulting feeding frenzies.
While hatches include caddis and stoneflies, many of the heaviest hatches this month come from, appropriately enough, mayflies.
Elegant yet hardy, mayflies -- ephemeroptera, in scientific parlance -- span a variety of sizes and colors, with more than 500 species known to exist in the United States and Canada.
Hatches are sometimes sparse, with a few bugs popping through the water's surface here and there.
Sometimes the hatches are heavy, with clouds of insects emerging at once. During such massive hatches the fish that feed on mayflies go crazy, creating the kind of action for which many fly anglers live.
Entire books, some of them massive, have been written about mayflies, mayfly hatches and how best to fish them.
While angling techniques can vary immensely depending on the mayfly species and its peculiarities, a common thread is that when mayflies are hatching, fish are feeding on them when the bugs are on or near the surface of the water.
For Jenkins, that's appealing.
"You know the position of the trout because it's rising," Jenkins said. "It's visual fishing."
Not that it makes for a sure thing.
An angler still has to pick the right fly, get the fly to the trout's position, and present it in a manner that mimics the real thing.
But in general, fishing a good mayfly hatch is about the best entry for a novice into the realm of fly fishing for trout.
When everything comes together on a cast and presentation, an angler is rewarded with a satisfying strike.
"And there's not much prettier than a fish coming up to the surface to take a dry fly," Jenkins said.
Notice he said fish, not trout.
Mayfly hatches can trigger feeding frenzies on smallmouth bass rivers, farm ponds and even big lakes.
Fly anglers don't have a monopoly on mayfly hatches.
Using ultralight gear, a spin angler with a bubble (float) rig can catch fish with dry flies in streams and still water.
Some hunters of true trophies don't bother with the dainty stuff.
As fish focusing on mayflies let down their guard, they become prime targets for big predators. Given the choice of sipping dozens of mayflies or blitzing an oblivious 8-inch trout, a trophy brown will take the meal of fresh fish most times.
An angler casting huge fly, spinner or plug can catch a fish of a lifetime during a mayfly hatch if he has the willpower to resist all of those tempting risers.
As for hitting things right, that's maybe the trickiest part. While it's possible to make general predictions on when the heaviest hatches will occur, based on previous timing, there are few sure things.
"When it comes right down to it, hatches are unpredictable," Jenkins said. "You've got to go fishing."
Just not in the Bahamas.
