Anything this obvious required a "dumb" but funny answer! But for size, you should see a salmon fly hatch! I have only been lucky enough to see one in my lifetime, but man - they are HUGE!
(BTW, no one was catching fish on imitations that day - but I was catching more than my share on a elk hair caddis???? Why??? Strange creatures, these trout!)
Genus and Species:
Family: Epherimidia
Other Common Name: Michigan Caddis
Emergence: June 20th to July 30th
Size: 18 to 33 MM (#2,4, and 6 hooks)
Nymph Habit: silt beds and mud banks, usually in shallow water along the streams edge
This is the famous Michigan "caddis hatch. It is not a caddis fly, but years ago some one called it that and confusion has reigned ever since.
Source Selective Trout: Doug Swisher and Carl Richards, 1971
John Desjardins
Emergence of the duns and the return of the spinners usually takes place at dusk, or well after dark, and on some nights after mid night The hex fly hatch is fished from 10 at night through 2-3 AM when the spinners return. You get your spot well before dusk and camp out waiting for dark. Then hope the hatch occurs and fish until 2-3 in the morning. Short strong leaders are needed since you have a great chance at a 20+ inch brown trout. This is when the big ones feed with abandon on the surface.
Brings lots of bug spray, multiple flash lights, know the area you are fishing intimately since putting a light on can put the fish down. Watch out for the night critters inthe air (bats, swallows) and water (beavers, musk rats, mink, deer, etc.) . Make sure you mark your trail on the way in with tissue paper or something similar if there are no fisherman trails. Very easy to get lost in the middle of the woods like me and my buddy did for a while on the South Branch of Ausable - Mason Tract years ago. Tissue paper saved us from more time in the mosquito infested michigan muck swamp at 2 AM !!
We had a great laugh after surviving that ordeal drinking cold beer at 3 AM in the middel of the Mason Tract fishing the Michigan Hex hatch.
Come on out I am looking for some one to go back with me for this unique trout dry fly fishing challenge.
Oh yes we caught only a few little ones that night.
Ooh - that's a bad pic. Any self-respecting "Beamoc" fish would run the orher way and hide if THAT hit the water! It vaguely resembles a "dorothea", but my poor old eyes can't make it out clearly.
I did it from memory (E. Dorothea = light cahill) - I think. I may be wrong - dorothea may be a sulfur, but the LC was (and remains) my usual "Old Reliable" for the Catskills, esp. the B'kill. I still have some of Darbee's original ties in my fly box---and I use 'em!
Yep, Light Cahill was a got to fly there along with the Hendricksons, Quill Gordons, etc.
Shoot me out some of those Darbee originals if you have extras, spend an hour talking to him Harry and Elsie one weekday I played hooky from college to hit the Hendrickson hatches one may in the early 70s.
so they were what species, or are we still guessing? If we are still guessing I would say eather caddis or some sort of mayfly.
Quote"Those are broomflies!" lol
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Fly Fishing Forum
163.8K posts
38.8K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to fly fishing and sporting enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about safety, licenses, tips, tricks, rivers, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!