Advice on Advice For Selecting Flies

[hughzar]

Last year when fly fishing, I just used whatever I had to catch fish. If I opened up my fly box now, I would not be able to tell you what was what. This year I would like to spend a little more time learning about hatches for western PA and the ability to identify insects and their handcrafted facsimiles. It would be easy for me (and probably a bit annoying for everyone else) to ask "What fly should I use?" over and over, but I would really like to do the leg work myself. Are there any books or websites that someone could recommend to me to help get the knowledge train rolling? I know there is a hatch chart on this site so at least I know to start there. Any help would be appreciated!

--Ryan

 

[Fishidiot]

Ryan,
To some degree, it depends on how ambitious you wish to be. Some FFers take insect identification to extremely minute levels, relying on scientific names and very small technical aspects to identify bugs. Then there are the rest of us who are interested but not terribly worried about exactly what bug is hatching.

The first thing I'd recommend is that you be able to identify mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, scuds, sowbugs, and midges. Once you see an aquatic insect (scuds and sowbugs are actually crustaceans) and can identify which of these categories you're dealing with, then you can get more specific.


Here's where it gets confusing, esp with mayflies: fishermen often refer to mayflies with generic terms like "sulphers" "BWO" or "march browns" and these colloquial terms can sometimes mean different insects. I highly recommend the website www.troutnut.com. I use it a lot to filter between scientific names and the generic names used by anglers.

It's a lot of fun but I don't think you need to memorize a lot of entymology to enjoy fly fishing.

 

[afishinado]

hughzar wrote:
Last year when fly fishing, I just used whatever I had to catch fish. If I opened up my fly box now, I would not be able to tell you what was what. This year I would like to spend a little more time learning about hatches for western PA and the ability to identify insects and their handcrafted facsimiles. It would be easy for me (and probably a bit annoying for everyone else) to ask "What fly should I use?" over and over, but I would really like to do the leg work myself. Are there any books or websites that someone could recommend to me to help get the knowledge train rolling? I know there is a hatch chart on this site so at least I know to start there. Any help would be appreciated!

--Ryan

Troutnut as FI mentioned and this book is great for hatch ID in PA and suggested flies to imitate them:

http://www.theanglingbookstore.com/pocketguidetopennsylvaniahatches.aspx

 

[No-nameCreek]

Piggybacking on hughzar, I was in the same boat last year, but I did try a couple of mayfly hatches. I had the right flies but I ended up missing the hatches (even at the right time of day/time of year). Caddis came off like crazy though. My local waters were too warm to fish for most of the trico hatches. Was last year different than "normal" in terms of late/early hatches? I am pretty new, but am familiar with troutnut and have the PA hatch book.

 

[ryguyfi]

I know what you're going through. I was there just a few years ago. I think the entomology is tough as the others have mentioned. I think you're more looking for this info first, then theirs second.

Get yourself a big box store fly fishing catalog (Orvis, Cabela's, etc) or go to their website and look at the flies they have in there. You can figure out that you have; an adams, prince, hares ear, etc. and what type of fly they are... nymph, dry, emerger, etc. That's the first thing. I know you buy all these flies, but have no clue what any of their names are and what they represent.

Next is to study the bugs of the area. Check out ncflyshop.com. They have a decent hatch chart of the stream with some of the local hatches. They also have a picture of the artificial fly for each of the named hatches.

Last is to shorten the curve and meet up with someone more experienced. Come to the Mini-JAM in April at the Neshannock on April 9th, or let me know and I'll come fish with you sometime. You never stop learning in this sport, but it's a big curve in the beginning. Keep at it.


Ryan

 

[gfen]

The way I first started to figure it out was Charlie Meck's Pocketguide to PA Hatches.

I may not be an expert, but fish don't speak Latin so it works out pretty well none the less.

 

[Bruno]

I think you may find this site useful

http://www.troutnut.com

 

[hughzar]

Thanks for the advice guys!

Ryan - I will definitely be there for the mini Jam up on Neshannock on April 9th.

 

[flyguyfishing]

Certainly good advise above.

Here is my 2 cents...

First learn the main generic catagories...mayfly, midges, caddis, stonefly.

Midges are easy...they are tiny. The key is color. Start with light, medium, or dark.

Mayfly. To identify that a bug hatching is a mayfly, look for hatching insects moving like a hot air balloon....somewhat slow and seem to float in the air. These flies are easy to catch in flight. catch one, and see the color.

Caddis. Caddis are faster moving and erratic fliers. They tend to zig zag around, and move sporadically. They are - due to their flight motion and speed, a bit harder to catch in flight. Find one having a hard time getting off the water, and grab them on the surface to identify color.

Stonefly. Stoneflies are similar to caddis in motion making them a bit harder to gauge. However, in general, they tend to be a bit slower and less erratic than caddis flies. remember, stoneflies do not hatch like the others, instead they crawl to the shore and hatch on land.

Sizing is important, and the best way to learn this is to go to a known hatch. Say Spring Creek early sulphur hatch. These are known to be size #14. Observe the the known hatch, and see what a #14 mayfly looks like in flight. This (or whatever known hatch near you) would then be your reference point for sizing other hatches. Try to see known hatches of mayfly, caddis, and stonefly to get reference point for each general catagory of aquatic insect.

For subsurface, flip rocks. get a streamside insect guide ( I learned with the Orvis one). Catch what's under the rocks and match to the book. Also, if you see bugs in the air but few risers, use what you see. Identify if mayfly, caddis, stonefly, or midge are present, then use streamside insect guide to choose appropriate under water fly.

So....
1. learn to distinguish if insect is mayfly (hot air balloon), stonefly, caddis (zig zaggers), or midge (tiny).

2. catch one for color.

3. Size by comparing to a known hatch size.

 

[osprey]

I might have missed it but i didn't see terrestrials mentioned any where , you HAVE to include ants and beetles and hoppers and cricketts and spiders and.................worms.

 

[trew13]

Another sugestion is to remember that not every stream holds the same insects. A book like Trout Streams and Hatches of Pennsylvania may be a good place to start to get an idea of what you should expect to see in the streams you fish, and the time of year they should appear.

 

[albatross]

NoNameCreek wrote

Was last year different than "normal" in terms of late/early hatches?

Absolutely! Last year was a real fluke. Most of the major hatches were two weeks early last year and the summer water temps were unusually warm. Those of us at the jamboree last year were fortunate to catch the early Green Drake hatch that normally occurs a week or two later.

 

[steve2u42]

I am pretty new here but gfen came up with a good starter list of flies:

"Buy some pheasant tails and some hare's ears for nymphs, 14-18.
Buy some peacock soft hackles for wets, 14.
Buy some elk hair or CDC-and-elk caddis dries, 14-16.
Buy some Adams dry flies, regular and parachute, 12-18.
Buy some Blue Wing Olive dry flies, regular and parachute, 16-18.
Buy some Sulphur dry flies, regular and parachute, 14-16.
Buy some beetles 14-16, grasshoppers 8-10, and ants 14-16, and Royal Wulffs, 12-16.
On edit..
Buy some Wooly Buggers in olive and black for streamers, 6-8

Go out and have a good time. You've got your bases covered. You'll figure the rest out with due time.

If its graceful and slender while it flies, its a mayfly.
If its mothlike and spastic, its a caddis fly.
If its anything else, use an appropriate caddis or mayfly anyways. Its fishing, not rocket science.

If the bug coming off the water is light, use a sulpher. If its dark, use an Adams. If its tiny and olve, its a BWO. If you can't tell, use an Adams or a BWO (you'll figure them otu quick enough). If there's nothing, but you want to prospect or just have fun, use one of the terrestials or the Wulff.

That's it. Seriously. Don't let anyone tell you its more complex.

That was Gfen post.

Also a great book is Pocket Guide to Pennsylvania Hatches by Charles Meck and Paul Weamer.


I find this book very helpful in knowing what i am looking at, times, sizes and Alot of the Pa Hatches.

 

[afishinado]

Here is a link to a site that has photos of flies used for each major hatch. The flies pictured are not necessarily the end-all flies for each hatch or stage, but it gives you some idea of where to start. Good luck.


http://completehatch.com/index.html

 

[steve2u42]

I was wondering if anyone uses wet flies regularly? I have Wet Fly, Hare Ear 12-18 and Wet Fly, Peacock Soft Hackle 12-18 in my box. As far as i know these are used mostly for caddis fly hatches. Are they good for any other imitation of flies? Also, if you do use wet flies regularly, what wet flies do you use and what do you use them to mimic?
Thanks,
Steve

 

[gfen]

Hare's ear could be one of two, there's the "nymph" variety, and then there's a winged wet fly version. I use the nymph variety when I want a nymph, soemthing on the bottom.

I might try a smaller peacock and partridge soft hackle if I want to have it below the surface, but not very low. I usually have it as a dropper to a dry fly, but you could fish it by watching the line or an indicator, or even just dragging it through the currents.

The bulk of my recent fish have come from unweighted hare's ears and soft hackles, across and down. Yesterday I had one who took the dry when it got dragged under through a current.

 

[wbranch]

All of these posts have great information so I'm not going to try and paraphrase what has already been written. If at all possible try and get to fish with some guys who can "walk the walk" - guys who have a handle on the various water based insects we run into while FFing. There will be nothing like spending a couple of days on stream with someone who is willing to turn over a few rocks with you to see what's crawling around and to try and pick some generic flies out of your box to imitate the naturals.

I fish often, but almost always only during the week, if you might want to go out sometime to a stream in York, or maybe Clark's, or even the Tully send me a PM a couple of days in advance and if possible I'll meet you on the stream.

 

[steve2u42]

i must of wrote my last question's wrong or something. I guess i was trying to ask if the Hare's Ear and Peacock soft hackle represent flies other than caddis. I was under the impression they imitated caddis flies only.
Also, i know there are people who are primarily dry fly fisherman, and others mostly use nymphs, and still others who use streamers mostly. Is there people who fish mostly wet flies? What is your assortment of wet flies consist of?
Also, was wondering if there are other wet flies, popular ones or ones used more often, different from the hare's Ear wet and Peacock soft hackle,that imitate other bugs.

 

[gfen]

The most important thing is they look like food.

A hare's ear, in any form, is far more mayfly like than caddis like, however. The big thorax, tapered body and tails make it so. A hare's nymph is a generic matchup for just about any mayfly nymph.

The soft hackle, on the other hand, is a bit more vague. That's what its got going on, too. Those soft fibers just sort of move. Are they legs? A wing? Gills? Who cares. They're alive, and that's the magic of it.

Movement gives the semblence of life, and the fish thinks, "it looks like food, maybe it is." He doesn't have fingers, so how does he check, then? With his mouth. Set the hook.

So, is it a caddis fly? Sure, could be. Perhaps its a caddis rising up, or one diving down. Perhaps its one that died while exiting the exoskeleton during a molt, or one that fell in from a gust of wind.

I like them, but until this year never fished a team of wets exclusively, despite always telling myself to. I often hang one as a dropper behind a dry fly, and in such I usually pick a soft hackle like a partridge-and-peacock.