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Fly Fishing and Flies
"We tend to ignore the role of luck and assure ourselves that science, evolution, and a good working knowledge of Latin and Greek are essential for any self-respecting fly fisherman who wishes to deceive a trout with an artificial fly. "
The Flies:
When fly fishing British Columbia the area, water, and time of year all dictate the types of flies you will encounter. If you're not familiar with the ins-and-outs of fly fishing entomology (the study of insects), don't sweat it. Walk into a local fly-fishing store or gas station and there is bound to be someone who will offer up some advice on what fly fishing and flies to use. Of course, what its worth will be yours to decide later.
Fly Fishing Entomology Primer:
The different stages of an insect's life cycle are a good indication of what trout will be feeding on. Identifying what the fish are keying on then ‘matching your fly fishing and flies to the hatch ' is often critical to success.
Of course sometimes you can forgo your fly fishing and flies selection and throw out a safety pin with a chunk of ham on it and the fish will go mad over it, but we like to think that what we do has some purpose. We tend to ignore the role of luck and assure ourselves that science, evolution, and a good working knowledge of Latin and Greek are essential for any self-respecting fly fisherman who wishes to deceive a trout with an artificial fly.
A hatch refers to the time of year, and time of day that an insect emerges from its nymphal stage (spent mostly in the water), crawls out of the water, or floats to the surface, dries, sheds its exoskeleton and emerges into its adult, winged, terrestrial form.
Understanding the aquatic environment and the insect life that thrives there is important for your fly fishing and flies selection as a fly fisherman.
The food chain begins with microscopic organisms such as algae, flagella, diatoms, bacteria, and protozoa otherwise known collectively as plankton . These are food sources for larva and pupal form of Chironomid and Chaoborus (midges and mosquitoes) that in turn are fed on by larger orders of insects, such as, mayfly and stonefly nymphs, damselfly and dragonfly nymphs as well as shrimp, leeches, water boatman etc. At the various stages of their life, trout will feed on all these creatures.
Fingerlings will feed on plankton and small Chironomid and as they grow their diet changes accordingly. Of course the presence and diversity of insects depends upon the aquatic environment as well as the time of year so you will have to vary your fly fishing and flies selection accordingly.
Chironomid migrations begin in early spring when the water warms to about 9 degrees Celsius. Still too cool for other insect hatches, the trout feed heavily on these pupa and larva during this period.
Other insect hatches occur later on. As the water warms and the season progresses stoneflies , mayflies, caddisfly , dragonfly and damselflies as well as terrestrials such as grasshoppers , flying black ants, cicadas and beetles become active and are fodder for cruising trout.
Get to know the aquatic environment and you will be well on your way to matching hatches, understanding entomology and perhaps even pick up a little Latin and Greek while you're at it..