Fly Hatches

[Anonymous]

So last night on the water at Wildcat Lk in Kitsap shawn and I witnessed a hatch right in front of our eyes. Once they surfaced, if the bass/trout didn't slurp them up they were gone. Well at least to there demise of the bats. One of the neatest things I have seen. To watch the calm surface of the water and then a fly just appear is trippy looking. It looked like a yellowish Mayfly but I am no expert. Maybe a Stonefly?
Do you fly experts know what would be hatching right now out here?
And one big question, what are the hatches that take place during the year? And at which times?

This would be helpful in choosing flies to throw and knowing at what stage the fly was in at a given time.

Thanks fellas.




fishnislife

[shawn]

http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/02-pmd.htmI think I found what we saw last night here is the link.

[leahcim_dahc]

check out the following links...all kinds of information regarding hatches that take place throughout the month/year. They also have a great database of quite a few insects. Enjoy!

http://www.westfly.com/cgi-bin/hatchChart
http://www.westfly.com/entomology/entomology.shtml

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

You didn't see stoneflies hatching on your lake...and probably didn't see PMD's as those are moving water mayflies.

Shame you didn't note the size of them but not being flyfishers, noting the size is hard to do.

I might venture a guess you saw Trico's, but those are real small so I wouldn't think that's correct either.

I'm puzzled what mayfly you saw. You may have seen a chironomid hatch. They look like beakless mosquitoes flying around. Some are real tiny and some are real big (for chronies).

[shawn]

You didn't see stoneflies hatching on your lake...and probably didn't see PMD's as those are moving water mayflies.

Shame you didn't note the size of them but not being flyfishers, noting the size is hard to do.

I might venture a guess you saw Trico's, but those are real small so I wouldn't think that's correct either.

I'm puzzled what mayfly you saw. You may have seen a chironomid hatch. They look like beakless mosquitoes flying around. Some are real tiny and some are real big (for chronies).

I fly fish often but not a expert on bugs.But they were pretty big and looked identical to the PMD in the picture from that link.

[Marc Martyn]

This is a good PDF of Aquatic Insects.

[fishnislife]

but not being flyfishers

Ah, come on now, let's not jump to such rash conclusions.
Fly Fishing is all shawn does. And I fly occacionally but bugs ain't my thing. I'm sure if I took two seconds to look around like everyone else I could probably figure out what they were. I just figured the guys around here would know really quickly what hatch this might have been. They were yellowish, had long skinny bodies and about an 1 1/2 in length. Reminded me of a Mayfly without the long tails.



fishnislife

[No_Bad_Skunks]

Here in Oregon, a lot of the hatches have been late this year, due to the extra snowy winter we had. ( Made for an added influx of cold, runoff water in some of the lakes. )

Has any of the same thing been going on up in Washington?

[fishnislife]

I believe this is what we saw. A Pale Evening Dun Spinner.






Thanks for all the info. and links guys. Great stuff contained within them. I appreciate it.




fishnislife

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

but not being flyfishers

Ah, come on now, let's not jump to such rash conclusions.
Fly Fishing is all shawn does. And I fly occacionally but bugs ain't my thing. I'm sure if I took two seconds to look around like everyone else I could probably figure out what they were. I just figured the guys around here would know really quickly what hatch this might have been. They were yellowish, had long skinny bodies and about an 1 1/2 in length. Reminded me of a Mayfly without the long tails.



fishnislife

I didn't mean that as an insult but meant one might be unfamilar with lake mayflies and running water mayflies.

I think the PMDs and PED's are both running water mayflies. So, it's some other light colored mayfly.

If the body was greyish...then it could be a calibaetis spinner.

[Anonymous]

No insult taken at all. I was kidding around with ya. I am by no means a fly expert. But it is something to know for sure.

It very well could have been a Calibaetis Sp.
But the wings were larger and transparent. Unlike the pic below.







fishnislife

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

No insult taken at all. I was kidding around with ya. I am by no means a fly expert. But it is something to know for sure.

It very well could have been a Calibaetis Sp.
But the wings were larger and transparent. Unlike the pic below.







fishnislife

Is this a picture of what you saw? It doesn't look like a small mayfly.

Shawn, what's an estimate of the hook size? Did it look like a #10, #8 or, even larger, a #6?

Without looking at my books I'm thinking a mud-dwelling, tunneling mayfly nymph.

PMD's or PED's would be a #14.

[shawn]

I would have to say between a 8 or a 6.The cases they were hatching from looked like a wooly bugger.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

I think you were looking at a hexigenia mayfly which tunnels in mud bottoms. I think the common name is yellow may.

[shawn]

I think you were looking at a hexigenia mayfly which tunnels in mud bottoms. I think the common name is yellow may.

Thanks for the info.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

Here's a picture of a hex female spinner. It's close to your picture.

http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/605

[Anglinarcher]

Lacking an entomologist, and a sample, we will never know for sure what you saw. I for one don't even care.

I learned long ago that I need to know if it is a mayfly, a caddis, a midge, a stone fly, a damsel fly, a dragon fly, or a "bug". That will tell me a little about how they live and hatch and how to fish them. Then I need to know the color (close, not perfect), the size (judge smaller if necessary), and how aggressive the fish are. With that information, I don't need to know if it is a Tiny Blue Winged Olive or just a Blue Winged Olive. It matters little if it is a Green Drake or a PMD. I have never found a fish that could tell what the names were either.

I got really frustrated one time when I found a black mayfly in South Idaho. A black Mayfly, with block legs, black body, black tail, and translucent white wings. I never found the name of this critter, but in South East Idaho I was prepared with copies when I found a Black mayfly, with black legs and tail, black body, and even black wings. I had a ball that night, and never even knew the name of this size 14, yes, a size 14 so it was not a Trico, mayfly.

I'll bet you have copies of that mayfly next time you go out in August, won't you.

[shawn]

I didn't even plan on fly fishing so I left my setup at home planning on fishing Bass for the evening with fishnislife.I don't have to wait til next August to have that in my box.It's already there it's been there.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

Lacking an entomologist, and a sample, we will never know for sure what you saw. I for one don't even care.

I learned long ago that I need to know if it is a mayfly, a caddis, a midge, a stone fly, a damsel fly, a dragon fly, or a "bug". That will tell me a little about how they live and hatch and how to fish them. Then I need to know the color (close, not perfect), the size (judge smaller if necessary), and how aggressive the fish are. With that information, I don't need to know if it is a Tiny Blue Winged Olive or just a Blue Winged Olive. It matters little if it is a Green Drake or a PMD. I have never found a fish that could tell what the names were either.

I got really frustrated one time when I found a black mayfly in South Idaho. A black Mayfly, with block legs, black body, black tail, and translucent white wings. I never found the name of this critter, but in South East Idaho I was prepared with copies when I found a Black mayfly, with black legs and tail, black body, and even black wings. I had a ball that night, and never even knew the name of this size 14, yes, a size 14 so it was not a Trico, mayfly.

I'll bet you have copies of that mayfly next time you go out in August, won't you.

He took a picture of one on the side of his boat. The colors should be fairly close the the real insect.

Very few mayflies have bodies that extend past the back of the wings. Check out his pic of the PED/PMD and then look at the one on the side of the boat. The one on the side of the boat has a very long body for a mayfly. We only have a few mayflies that are size 10 or larger in WA.