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The December selection includes one;
Cressbug
If confronted with a Mayfly dun he can’t match Don Baylor substitutes an Adams of the correct size. I've expanded on his idea to include Mayfly nymphs, Caddis and midges.
Click here for more information.
This rainy month brings us water temperatures fluctuating between 46 and 56 degrees, swallows, Forsythia, green willows, nesting Mallards, Baetis tricaudatus, Paraleptophlebia adoptiva, Craneflies and some Caddis. On wild trout water it also brings the late April doldrums.
This April Fly Selection is just what the Doctor ordered. April Selection #1 includes;
Among the Little Lehigh Fly Fishers, John Coxey was the crown prince of sucker spawn.
Brandishing his favorite sucker spawn pattern, John would prowl the banks searching for pods of spawning suckers.
Read more about this trout cuisine by clicking here.
An important participant in behavioral drift these active, agile swimmers dart around bottom for food never in water over three feet. They feed most actively at night and on overcast days. The best hours to fish with them are dusk thru dawn.
Learn more, click here!
Crane flies begin showing up on spring creeks around February 15th. As the season becomes warmer, their intensity increases. Click here for all the details regarding Craneflies.
A properly dressed emerger with no weight will usually out fish a dry fly. Try shallow riffles and weed beds.
You will find the emerger pattern to be deadly.
Check out the Baetis page.
The "Rat" works all day, all year. For many who fish spring creeks, the Rat is the first fly they try every day all year.
Carry heavily hackled Adams in various sizes. Substitute Adams for naturals you can't match.
If confronted with a Mayfly nymph you can’t match, select a Pheasant T Tail Nymph of the correct size.
Use it as a baetis nymph imitation.
Use it as an attractor pattern for opportunistic feeders
My fly box is populated with sizes 14 through 24.
I use Henryville Specials as substitutes for Caddis not represented in my fly box. I tie them down to size #24. Yea, yea I know I could use an Elk hair pattern but I like to use Henrys because they are a traditional pattern, they’re fun to tie and they keep the casual tiers skills honed
Ants
There are substantial numbers of Ants in the drift during the early morning hours.
Bead head Hares Ear
A fine attractor pattern for opportunistic feeders
These bugs are multi-brooded (Three broods per year.) They emerge by crawling. You will see them in the morning and afternoon with the main activity from noon until evening
SULPHUR SELECTION
Ephemerella rotunda, sz 14, invaria, sz 16 and dorothea, sz 18
Sulphur Nymphs are quiet water dwellers. Found in flats and runs. they flourish in Limestone especially silt.
Nymphs swim laboriously with a peculiar wiggle. Seek appropriate sites along banks, behind boulders and deadfalls. During emergence fish in the surface film.
The late Joe Kohler introduced us to a simple nymph pattern which is a killer. You will find a 14, 16 and 18 in this selection
Sulphur Duns, have three tails and emerge May 15th through the end of June usually between 7 pm and dusk. Hatches usually last ½ hour. The best fishing is after sunset. The first activity is usually caused by invaria & rotunda not dorothea.
We suggest Sparkle Duns or Compara Duns., a 14, 16 and 18 of each are included in this selection.
Duns take off quickly so Spinners may be better fishing.
Try A Sulphur compara Dun
During the first weeks of the hatch the trout are easy to catch as they gorge themselves with reckless abandon. As the season progresses they become very selective, rising to the silhouette then refusing the fly as they see oversized wings or other mistakes.
Al’s pattern eliminates this problem. Selectively feeding trout are looking for what’s right not what’s wrong. Since Al’s trico has no wings or tail to turn them off, they rise to the silhouette and take the fly.
The Little Lehigh Fly Shop enjoyed the opportunity of hosting Fran Gough and his entourage as he studied Tricorythodes Stygiatus.
Fran placed nets in the water, checking them every hour periodically for four months, many of the millions of specimens had RED thoraxes! When we brought them to the attention of Dr Greg Hoover he
identified the red to as caused by internal mites.
I started fishing Trico patterns with red thoraxes with success.
The selection includes 4 males (2 with red thoraxes, 2 black) and 4 females. (2 with red thoraxes, 2 black)