April is truly the trout fisher’s month. The weather is perfect for fishing, wildflowers are in bloom and, best of all, mayfly hatches are emerging.
Nothing excites a die-hard trout fisher more than a good mayfly hatch. Gary Borger, an authority on fly fishing and aquatic insects, calls mayflies “the cornerstone of modern fly fishing.”
While more than 600 mayfly species have been identified in North America alone, mountain fishers mark the beginning of the spring fly-fishing season when Quill Gordon (Epeorus pleuralis), March Brown (Stenonema vicarium), and Hendrickson (Ephemerella subvaria) hatches emerge.
Roger Lowe of Waynesville, a third-generation fly fisher and former guide, said March Brown and Quill Gordon hatches begin showing up in late March and continue into mid-May, with Hendrickson hatches starting to turn up in April.
“The biggest hatches are during April,” he said, “and it’s a major hatch.”
Becoming familiar with the life cycles of mayflies, or any other aquatic insect for that matter, is the first step in becoming a successful trout fisher.
March Brown, Quill Gordon, and Hendrickson are short-lived insects (ephemerals) with their adult stage the briefest part of their life cycle.
Shortly after reaching sexual maturity, adult mayflies (spinners) mate and die. The male dies just after mating; the female dies after depositing her eggs over the water. The fertilized eggs, which have a sticky, jelly-like coating, sink and stick to rocks or other debris on the stream bottom. Eggs may hatch within a matter of weeks or lie dormant over the winter and hatch in the spring. When the nymph emerges from the egg, it sheds as it grows.
The nymph occupies a place in a stream. according to its species. Quill Gordon and March Brown nymphs prefer strong currents. They have the ability to cling to rocks, debris and other structures on the stream bottom. Hendrickson nymphs, which crawl about, prefer water with slow currents.
All nymphs, whether clingers, crawlers or burrowers, sometimes become dislodged due to heavier-than-normal currents and drift downstream from their home base, until they find a new place to lodge. During the drifting process, the nymphs are easy prey for trout. The heaviest free-floating periods generally occur in the evening and early morning or after a heavy downpour.
To imitate a free-floating nymph, Lowe recommends letting the fly dead-drift in the current to better imitate the movement of a dislodged nymph.
When nymphs are ready to move into the emerger stage of their cycle, they shed their nymphal shell and become duns. Most nymphs shed their shells on the bottom or rise to the surface to shed them. A few mayflies crawl out of the water and onto rocks or logs to emerge. When the dun emerges, it sits on the water with wings raised, looking like a tiny sailboat. After its wings dry, the insect flies to a bush or other vegetation for a short rest, a matter of minutes or days, depending on the weather. After the rest period, a second shell is shed, and the sexually mature spinner emerges, starting the cycle anew.
When Quill Gordon and March Brown duns emerge, they drift slowly on the surface, and imitations should be fished accordingly to give trout time to get a bead on the fly and nail it. Hatches usually occur in the warmest part of the day, usually between 2 and 4 p.m., and in the warmer parts of a stream — flats and the lower ends of large pools.
Suggested sizes for flies are Nos. 14 to 12 Quill Gordon (wet or dry), No. 14 Hendrickson, Red Quill or Female Adams, and No. 12 March Brown (wet or dry).
For good measure, give the fly a little twitch when it lands and let it drift slowly on the surface. A strike is almost guaranteed.
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The trout fishing season on hatchery-supported streams opens Saturday, April 2. The creel limit is seven trout per day with no size limit. Either artificial lures or natural bait may be used in hatchery-supported waters. Stream sides are marked with green-and-white, diamond-shaped signs.
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