April is the month of wildflowers and mayflies.
Service trees, trillium, trout lily, wood anemone, bloodroot and chickweed are among the first wildflowers, and March Brown, Hendrickson and Quill Gordon are among the first mayflies to hatch in the spring.
Anglers can enjoy some of the most productive trout fishing of the year during this time. During winter, fishing activity usually is limited to a few hours a day, but each spring in the N.C. mountains it’s time to enjoy excellent fishing from daylight to dusk.
A good mayfly hatch excites anglers, and few sights are more beautiful than spring wildflowers in bloom. Mountain trout fishers enjoy both.
While more than 600 mayfly species have been identified in North America, mountain fishers mark the beginning of the spring fly-fishing season at the emergence of Quill Gordon (Epeorus pleuralis), March Brown (Stenonema vicarium), and Hendrickson (Ephemerella subvaria) hatches.
Roger Lowe of Waynesville, a third-generation fly fisher and long-time fishing guide, said March Brown and Quill Gordon hatches begin showing up in late March and continue into mid-May.
“The biggest hatches are during April,” he said “and it’s a major hatch.”
Hendrickson hatches usually start in April.
Becoming familiar with the life cycles of mayflies, or any other aquatic insect, 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 above the surface of the water. The fertilized eggs, which have a sticky jelly-like coating, sink and stick to rocks or other debris at the bottoms of streams. Eggs may hatch within a matter of weeks or lie dormant during winter and hatch the following spring. When nymphs emerge from eggs, they go through a succession of sheddings as they grow.
The nymph occupies a place in a stream according to its species. Quill Gordon and March Brown nymphs, which prefer strong currents, have the ability to cling to rocks, debris, and other structures at the bottoms of streams. Hendrickson nymphs, which crawl about, prefer water with slow currents.
All nymphs, whether clingers, crawlers, or burrowers, sometimes become dislodged and drift downstream from their home bases, either by choice or because of heavier-than-normal currents until they find new places to lodge. During the drifting process, nymphs are easy prey for trout. The heaviest free-floating periods generally occur during evening and early morning or after a heavy downpour.
To imitate a free-floating nymph, Lowe recommends letting a fly dead drift in the current to better imitate the movement of a drifting nymph.
When nymphs are ready to move into the emerger stage of their cycle, they shed their nymphal shells and become “duns.” Most nymphs shed their shells at the bottom or rise to the surface to shed their shells. 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 upon the weather. After the rest period, a second shell is shed, and the sexually mature spinner emerges, starting the cycle anew.
Early mayflies aren’t as colorful as the ones that emerge later in the spring and early summer. They’re mostly gray and black with a little rust coloring.
Lowe said when Quill Gordon and March Brown duns emerge, they drift slowly on the surface, and the imitation should be fished accordingly to give a trout time to get a bead on the fly and nail it. Hatches usually occur during the warmest parts of a day, he said, between 2 and 4 p.m., and at the warmer parts of streams — flats and the lower ends of large pools.
Suggested sizes for flies are No. 14-12 Quill Gordon (wet or dry), No. 14 Hendrickson, Red Quill or Female Adams, and No. 12 March Brown, wet or dry.
Other common hatches occurring in April are Blue Quill, Black Caddis, Gray Caddis, and Blue-Winged Olive.
Gold-ribbed Hare’s and Pheasant Tail with beadheads are excellent spring nymph patterns.
For good measure, Lowe suggests giving a fly a little twitch when it lands, then letting it drift slowly on the surface.
Fly fishing, of course, isn’t the only method of catching trout during the spring. While a few streams are limited to fly-fishing only, the majority of mountain streams may be fished with artificial lures.
Only lures with a single hook may be used in wild-trout waters and any waters in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Bright colors (chartreuse and yellow) are best for spring spinner fishing. Lure sizes depend upon the type of water anglers choose to fish.
Early in the spring when streams are full, a 1/8-ounce lure is recommended, while at small streams, use a 1/16-ounce lure. Six-pound-test line is best with larger lures while 4-pound-test line works best with small lures.
The trout fishing season at state hatchery-supported streams opens April 5. Streams have been heavily stocked, so fish should be plentiful.
The creel limit is seven trout per day with no size limit. Artificial lures or natural bait may be used at hatchery-supported waters.
Stream designations are marked by green-and-white diamond-shaped signs.
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