Juniata Insect hatch

[AFISHN]

I had an errand to run near Duncannon today.
After I took care of the errand, I waded the Juaniata to spin fish FROM 11am TO 12:30pm.

I did manage two decent SM on Pop R's .However,I saw many spalshes, a dozen or so SM launching out of the water.
I checked the water surface and the air carefully, but couldn't find any insects.
DOES ANY ONE KNOW WHAT POSSIBLY COULD BE HATCHING NOW AND MID DAY ON THE JUANIATA???

THANKS
TOM

 

[DaveS]

Damselflies? Their nymphs are good swimmers.

 

[Dave_W]

DaveS wrote:
Damselflies? Their nymphs are good swimmers.

This is a good guess.

I'll keep my eye out tomorrow.

 

[PennKev]

AFISHN wrote:

I checked the water surface and the air carefully, but couldn't find any insects.

Bass could be chasing baitfish.

 

[Dave_W]

Was out on the lower J today. Definitely lots of bass going after damselflies - many of them jumping completely out of the water.

 

[StreamBottom]

Good damselfly pattern??
Would you fish it sub surface or as a dry?

 

[JerryC]

They might have been jumping after damsel or dragonflies. They don't hatch like mayflies or caddis. The nymphs swim to shore and climb on to plants or rocks and emerge. I've witnessed a couple of dragonfly hatches, neat to watch. Takes them a while to climb out of the nymph skin, spread their wings and sit on the rock or plant stem until the wings dry and the body hardens.
I would go with the damsel fly nymph. The nymphs are predatory and active. And if you happen to hit a hatch and a bunch are heading toward shore the fish won't be far behind.
I keep my damselfly nymphs simple.
Hook: Size 8 2xl or 10 3XL
Thread: Olive
Eyes: Black bead chain or black plastic
Tail: Olive Marabou
Body: Olive Marabou

Tie in the eyes with enough space between them and the hook eye
to make a wrap or two of the marabou

Tie in the tail. I usually make the length of the hook shank

Tie in a piece of marabou by the tips. I twist the marabou to tighten it, then wrap the marabou up the hook shank, thinner at the back, then building a thorax behind the eyes. I make two wraps of marabou between the eyes, wrap it down, build a small thread head, and finish it off with couple of half hitches.

 

[AFISHN]

Thanks for the replies.Most of the splashes were within 30 feet of grass or the shore line;guessing the damselfly conclusion is the correct one

 

[Dave_W]

AFISHN wrote:
Thanks for the replies.Most of the splashes were within 30 feet of grass or the shore line;guessing the damselfly conclusion is the correct one

Interesting.
The fish I saw yesterday were out in mid river (we were fishing the shoreline under the trees). These bass were chasing winged adults, hence the splashing and jumping. There were large numbers of damselflies, and a fair number of adult dragonflies, buzzing along just a foot or so above the surface. These fish were on the smaller side with a few foot long or larger bass here and there. We didn't go out and try to catch any of them as we were having plenty of action fishing the shoreline.

There was an occasional fish sipping something along the shoreline and these fish ignored my popper. My guess is they were fallfish, sunnies, or juvenile SMBs taking something off the surface film, perhaps stillborn mayflies or shucked nymphs from the night before.

The surface of these rivers usually has a good bit of various insect flotsam this time of year due to large hatches of mayflies the previous evening or during the night. Next time you're out on one of these big warm water rivers, take some time to watch the surface carefully: you'll see lots of dead nymph skins and water logged spinners - lots of ISOs, hexagenia, and other stuff.

However, the bass yesterday were definitely hot to chase the damselflies. Sometimes, I'd watch a spot where the bugs were flying around and see one get close to the surface and, sure enough, there would be a swirl or a bass would come out of the water in a porpoise leap.

 

[krayfish2]

When I fished it the other week, we had damsels all over the boat. Sometimes,it seemed like 50-60 on the gunwales. Pretty crazy we saw lots of fish (small ones) launching themselves out to feast on the bugs. Pretty cool to see.