Male Trico duns hatch during the night and females hatch in the early morning before the mating swarm occurs. (FFM Staff photo)
January 30, 2024
By Fly Fisherman Staff
Check out this classic seven-part series of articles designed to familiarize fly fishermen with the practical aspects of stream side entomology. The series, originally published in early 1970s, covers the favorite fare of trout, smallmouth bass, and even bluegill in all of their habitats, slow water and fast, from farm ponds to high mountain lakes. Mr. LaFontaine is both a scientist and fly fisherman who goes where the fish and the hatches are.
An excerpt:
In the bright sunlight of mid-day I concentrated on the bouncing water, where the refracted light and trapped air rode a protecting roof over the trout that stayed in the riffles to gather the drifting caddis larvae or floating terrestrials. In the riffles, where the trout found protective cover, available food, and aerated water, rainbows and browns fed throughout the day. The fish slashed at the unraveling Royal Trude.
Like a heavy terrestrial, the Trude sat flush in the surface film, greased and dried by false casting just enough to fish damp in the water, rather than dry. Aiming so that the fly landed indelicately with a splat, I put my casts to the edge areas of the riffles. The trout were lying at the borders of the heavy runs, close among the bottom rocks where the current force was minimal.
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We quit fishing late in the afternoon, taking time to rest and eat supper before returning to the river to see if an evening flurry developed. During the day I stumbled onto many more trout than I deserved to see, and now Howard remarked, "You fished it like you owned it."
As we walked to the truck I said, "Oh, I guess that trout are alike everywhere." But I pondered on experiences that were not so predictable, and added, "Only sometimes they're more alike than at other times."
