Adult Stoneflies

[hooker-of-men]

Fished McMichaels DHALO today and there was a pretty good hatch of big *** stoneflies all afternoon. I believe Rosenbauer says he's never caught an east coast trout on a stonefly dry.

Today, they were landing all over the water (and me) and skittering all around. I didn't see a single rise, but I also don't have great confidence there are a ton of fish in that section this time of year.

Does anyone have personal experience of fish consistently feeding on stonefly dries as opposed to nymphs? Is Rosenbauer's anecdote apocryphal?

 

[PennKev]

I've seen decent numbers of risers to early brown stones. In all instances it has been in situations like we have now where the weather has been unseasonably warm. The egg laying adults drew very aggressive strikes, similar to what you would see with egg laying caddis.

However, I can understand why someone would think that it doesn't happen. You need to be at the right creek, at the right time, and have the right conditions. Even then, it doesn't seem as anywhere near as predictable and widespread as caddis or any of the common mayfly hatches.

 

[Maurice]

For sure....I've fished them three times this year over risers gulping skittering flies and have had lackluster success. Had better luck with griffiths gnats and flies under the surface.

But in the past I have also had incredible days when multiple fish fought over the skating LB Stone.

As always YMMV.

 

[fisherboy3]

I dont know of a huge *** stonefly thay hatches this time of year. Smaller ones of course, brown and black in a 12-18 is more appropriate. Mcmichaels has a good amount of wild browns in it, surprised they didnt take notice.

 

[afishinado]

PennKev wrote:
I've seen decent numbers of risers to early brown stones. In all instances it has been in situations like we have now where the weather has been unseasonably warm. The egg laying adults drew very aggressive strikes, similar to what you would see with egg laying caddis.

However, I can understand why someone would think that it doesn't happen. You need to be at the right creek, at the right time, and have the right conditions. Even then, it doesn't seem as anywhere near as predictable and widespread as caddis or any of the common mayfly hatches.

Good info by PennKev ^

It's really rare for surface activity, but it happens once in a while.

Stoneflies crawl onto the bank or rocks to hatch, so there is no real opportunity for fish to feed during a hatch.

During a slight warm spell the egg-laying females return to the water, but most times the insects on the water are sparse and the water is so cold, the trout show little interest.

When there is record high temps for many days in a row, things align and you may see some surface activity.

Any downwing fly (caddis type or stimmie) in appropriate size and approximate color should work for surface feeders.

No down-wings in your box?....just try an Adams

 

[dryflyguy]

I also occasionally find fish taking stoneflies on top - but you sure can't count on it.
Is still worthwhile to be prepared though. I use a gray fluttering caddis pattern in sizes #12 and #14. And you usually have to skitter it across the surface to get a strike

 

[Mike]

There is a great stonefly hatch on some Pocono streams in late morning/early afternoon during the first or second week after opening day. The trout take the dry imitators with reckless abandon. It is almost unfair.

 

[Dave_W]

hooker-of-men wrote:
there was a pretty good hatch of big *** stoneflies

How big are we talking about?
Could you describe this insect in body length in inches, fractions of an inch, or millimeters?

 

[AFISHN]

I fished Boiling Springs on Wednesday and there were stone flys around and very few sporadic rises.I heavily greased a non weighted #14 stone nymph and it floated in the film and caught 4 wild fish and hd half dozen refusals

 

[krayfish2]

Only time I've seen significant response to stoneflies was later in the season when wind blew them out of the vegetation and onto the water.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Dave_W wrote:

How big are we talking about?
Could you describe this insect in body length in inches, fractions of an inch, or millimeters?

Bodies were between 3/4 of an inch to an inch. Maybe "big ***" is an overestimate, but in the past few weeks the stoneflies I've been seeing on rocks have been more in the 1/4 in. range. This was a substantial difference. These were black and (to correct my first post) they weren't hatching, but rather landing on the water, skittering around, and then flying off again.

I will be the first to admit I am pretty bad in terms of insect knowledge, so they very well could've been butterflies or something and I'm just an idiot. At the time, though, I had no doubt the things on me were big black stoneflies.

 

[redietz]

hooker-of-men wrote:
Does anyone have personal experience of fish consistently feeding on stonefly dries as opposed to nymphs? Is Rosenbauer's anecdote apocryphal?

If you're asking about adult stoneflies, the answer is they're a great hatch to fish. If you want to use a dry, though, you'll probably be disappointed.

The little brown stones dive into the water to lay their eggs. They hit water hard to do so; there's no floating involved. Once through the film, they've alive and swimming. The fish hammer them underwater.

It's one of the absolute best hatches to fish a wet fly to. Try swinging brown hackle peacock, (or a leadwing coachman) in a size 14. The fish will be near the surface, you don't want to weight the fly at all. Another fly that often works is a dark Hendrickson wet (probably because of the brown wing.) It's also the hatch that the partridge was invented for hundreds of years ago, although I find the body to be a bit skinny for stoneflies. You might even get by with a unweighted Prince nymph, as long as it's moving and not too deep.

I had a great day last Sunday doing just this. Brown stones are something that I look forward to each year.

 

[Dave_W]

hooker-of-men wrote:
Bodies were between 3/4 of an inch to an inch. Maybe "big ***" is an overestimate, but in the past few weeks the stoneflies I've been seeing on rocks have been more in the 1/4 in. range. This was a substantial difference. These were black and (to correct my first post) they weren't hatching, but rather landing on the water, skittering around, and then flying off again.

I will be the first to admit I am pretty bad in terms of insect knowledge, so they very well could've been butterflies or something and I'm just an idiot. At the time, though, I had no doubt the things on me were big black stoneflies.

Okay, thanks. I was thinking that what you saw were golden stoneflies (Perlids, or something else) that would be highly unlikely for this time of year. However, it would be highly unlikely that I'd be wearing shorts today too.

Based on the size, I'd guess you were seeing what are usually known as "early brown stones." These are bigger than the early black stones that you are familiar with, but hatch around the same time (late winter thru early springtime). Their body length tends to run about 1/2 to 2/3rds of an inch. The black stones are much smaller, typically around 1/3 of an inch.

Good advice from redietz, by the way. ^

 

[zenherper]

We ran into a strong hatch of early brown stoneflies, and early black stoneflies this morning/afternoon. Fish were rising to them sporadically. We managed to catch a few on top using EHC and small black midge patterns.

 

[Millsertime]

Hooker....Here is a little black stonefly today from Pocono Creek. They were doing plenty of touch and go's but no surface activity.

BWO's on the other hand had the browns interested...

 

[hooker-of-men]

That's the dude!

I did some googling earlier and realized that Dave_W was on the money. I was confused by the name, since the adult appeared pretty much black. I'm catching on now.

Thanks for all the replies. I've never thought much about stoneflies, and this thread has put me on some good info.

 

[TimRobinsin]

I thought the hatch has been pretty good this year. I have caught a few trout on a skated or skittered presentation lately.

It's interesting to see how the trout respond to this hatch on a low water year. My friend Eric believes this hatch becomes more important to the fish during low water years.

I think the key here is that when conditions are prime for the fish to take these flies of the top it also means the water is low and clear which means the fish are prone to predators.

we had a good day on Thursday finding fish and finding flies but finding the nexus of the two was the trick. We did locate two spots that had fish feeding on EBS but the conditions (low, clear water & blue bird sky day) dictated that we only had a few shots at these fish. I rose several but had a tough time setting the hook from the distance I was fishing. I had a lot of slack in my line which is almost always a bad thing.

Hopefully we keep getting rain and the creeks come up a bit more. It was interesting to find the best clusters of EBS in the the sun. When the wind was calm we could see them heading out over the water. We did not see any mating flights but Eric has told me the fishing can be amazing when they happen.

Keep getting out there and looking, conditions are prime this year for early season dry fly fishing. It may be technical but that is what makes us superior to our western counterparts, it's not just cast and blast out here on the east coast. Remember the O4P's of fly fishing, Observation - Position - Presentation - Presentation - Presentation!

 

[JeffK]

I'm with Kray. In the streams I fish the early stoneflies don't hatch in the stream, but crawl to shore where they hatch and climb into the low streamside bushes. You see the shucks on the shore. Therefore, the major action is with nymphs in the shallows or tail outs of the pools. Fish just out from where you find shucks: trout will be waiting for the migrating nymphs.

However, when gusty winds pick up (a common occurrence this time of year) the adults get blown into the stream and "motor boat" back to shore. In the right conditions (bugs on the water. moderate flows, OK temperatures), the trout will be on them and the action can be steady. My one caveat is that the trout that slam the dries will be the smaller ones - the better fish will be intercepting the nymphs in my experience. However, I still carry a size 14 black EHC or a specialized stonefly pattern that can be skittered just in case. It is usually the first dry fly action of the year for me. Later in the season some egg layers start, but once again I find the fishing is spotty for generally smaller fish, but I still carry a dry or two just in case. Nymphing/wet flies are still the bread and butter approaches for me until the Hendricksons provide steadier rises from better fish.

 

[jifigz]

Each February and March stoneflies hatch like crazy out of the Juniata. They come off thick. But I've never seem a good hatch on a trout stream and I've personally never seen fish rise to them really. I wish I did though as it would be one more great time to throw early season dry flies.

 

[SteveG]

I had a similar experience to Tim when I was out the other day. The fish were out in the bright sun, in shallow water near the banks, and there were a variety sporadic riseforms. There were a ton of EBS either clumsily hitting the water, or laying eggs... I think the crawling out emergence of this and some caddis species is why they get so ignored by anglers.

I must admit, with being my first time out post neck injury, I was so focused on trying to take one on top, that I completely disregarded the idea of trying to quarter a wet fly downstream along the edges. I kicked up a fish that was an easy 19" which was holding in about 7" of water haha