We have all had the experience of seeing and fishing a hatch it can be productive to fish but they only last so long. About 12 years ago I was doing some stream sampling for a water quality survey on a local river. I had fish there the day before and had gotten into a good Hendrickson hatch with some sized 18 blue winged olives mixed in. It had only lasted about an hour or so but the fish seemed to be active even for an early part of the year. When I did my kick surveys I found that about 60 to 70 % of the nymphs I picked up were of the two species that were to hatch later that day. I guess that is when the light went off and I have been fishing hatches “bottom to top “ever since. The next day I would fish the “Complete” hatch. Having studied aquatic bugs for some time I knew the type of water the nymphs would be living in so I put on a pheasant tail nymph size 18 and a larger brown colored nymph. I fished the heads of pools and the transition from riffles for about an hour and a half before the hatch was to happen. I did not make more than 3 drift when I hooked and landed a nice rainbow and managed a bunch more before the trout started to rise and key in on emergers.

 Armed with a little bit of knowledge of the bugs to be hatching and type of water the nymphs inhabit can make for a good day. I now carry boxes with nymph, emerger, dun and spinner for most all the hatches. So if your on a favorite stream or even a new place try to find out if anything has been hatching and then try fishing from the bottom up. 

One big thing to remember is that when nymphs are getting ready to hatch they are not some inanimate object just floating in the current they will move and swim to get to were they want to go. Some of the large stones will let go of the bottom and tumble into a pool to slower water and crawl to the bank. For year I tried to imitate them crawling along the bottom with little success. So I then changed my attention to the point at which they are tumbling thus the “Riffle stone” pattern was born and boy it can be a killer at times. So just don’t sit around a wait for the hatch to begin fish the unseen hatch below. 

the Great debate heard in fly shops online and on the water is what is most important the fly or the presentation. This debate can go on endlessly but to be completely honest both sides are wrong. While you can fish a perfect match of the fish are feeding on with a poor presentation and catch some fish or conversely fish the completely wrong fly with a perfect presentation yes you will catch some fish. If that is what you want and some people are satisfied with that it's ok. If you truly want to be in the 10% of anglers that catch 75% of the fish then put them together you will catch 5 times the number of fish you do now. 

Some people with go on and on able how the fly is not important as so and so catches all their fish on a size 14 Adams dry fly or so and so nymph. yes they may catch all their fish on them but how many are they missing because they are in the wrong current seam or fishing a dry when the water temp is 40 degrees and there hasn't been a hatch in 4 months. There a 5 or so things to consider when you are choosing what fly you are going to use. \

1) what are they easting? look for bugs in the are, on the water or in the bushes.

2) silhouette of what they are eating is next. Mayflies, stoneflies , caddis and midges all have different body / wing types in both larval and adult form.

3) size what size bug are they easting, there is a bigger difference than you may realize in a size 12 to 14 natural, the trout will get locked into a curtain size bug with an extended hatch. 

4)  finally proper color is also important especially during hatches like the Hendrickson and again during the Sulphur hatches later in the spring. it dose not have to be exact but close.

 where are the majority of trout feeding surface, film , mid current or bottom. once you determine that. how are they feed , flashes, bulging rises, splashy rises, slow head to tail rise or head bobs. These will tell you best where to start. 

Now you know what they want not you need to present it to the fish correctly, it may sound easy but sometimes it can be maddening. if they are feeding subsurface depth control is the number one thing to manage. If they are feeding up to emergers or adults then you have to get the fly to the lane the fish is feeding in. at that point control of your leader and tippet are A#1 to manage. Any drag will cause the fly to act out of the ordinary so it may put a fish down or cause a refusal. 

These above hold true no matter the technique you are using streamer fishing, swinging wets, dries or nymphing. So next time you are on the water try to put these together to see if it helps.

  

 

 I am back after almost 10 years I am back to writing as well as doing my own thing again. Many changes have happened in this time but the largest is that my eyes have been opened to what my fly fishing should be all about. For the last 16 years I have been living someone else's idea of what fly fishing should be. In may I had to walk away from what I was doing to get back to my roots. I am doing what I truly love to do fly fish and help others get batter at it. 

This spring I will be going back to guiding and will start to offer my many signature patterns for sale on a limited basis as well some custom orders for close friends , old customers. In addition I will be doing several tying classes this winter location to be decided in November. I plan on weekly blog posts going forward with info on all of our local water and some destination info. After working in fly and tackle shops for more than half my life I am going to pass on some knowledge that will help when interacting at a shop I will call this section " My side of the counter ". 

 I am really looking forward to what the future is going to bring and hope you all will tagalong both here and in person.

Steve