The first of the larger mayflies are about to arrive soon. The Hendrickson's are all about temperature and they can show up weeks early or late with the upcoming weather playing the biggest part. One thing about them is when they arrive anything can happen with the big event usually occurring during the warmer part of the day being sometimes late morning or early afternoon and spinner falls into sunset. The female duns are a bit larger than the males and somewhat thicker in body. They are more or less a dull golden grayish color with medium to dark dun wings and have small eyes. The thinner male's body color is a medium reddish brown with medium to dark dun color wings. Their eyes are large and rusty orange to tomato red in color.
Their emergence is slow to fast all depending upon the water and air temperature. I have written about fresh emerged mayflies and on a cooler day these mayflies will fit this category emerging from the water and after a short flutter float on the surface for a distance being vulnerable before flying off to shuck out and turn into spinners. The dun part of this mayfly is most important during this cooler of the day's situation. On warmer days they emerge and are gone and usually are not a big factor as a fly selection. Notice I said usually. I will get back to the spinner part later but what I want to talk about next is the nymph and emerger stage.
Right now Hendrickson or Ephemerella nymphs are becoming active and subject to becoming part of the flows especially with the high fast waters of springtime. I have had great luck these past days as I always do around this time of year with my TD Brown Flash pattern that imitates these nymphs extremely well. Right now I fish them dead drift as though they were pulled away from their anchor spots attempting to grab hold again. When I see the hatch arrive I will begin to fish them on the swing imitating the swimming emerging Hendrickson nymphs. This nymph is extremely deadly swung from below up into actively rising trout during an active Hendrickson emergence. This also holds true with any open water mayfly emergence. At this time there are also other patterns that are extremely deadly and it usually comes down to some of my emerger patterns. There is nothing that the trout key into better than what appears to be a stalled emerging nymph in the surface film. Attached photo is my TD CDC Brown Emerger that will be put to good use soon.
Back to the spinners, as the afternoon fades the male and female Hendrickson spinners will arrive. The males at this stage will now have darker and longer tails ant their bodies will have changed to dark red to mahogany red and still have the big tomato red eyes. The wings will be transparent and no longer dun in color. The females will be lighter in the body but still a golden yellow and will have a visible bright yellow egg ball at the base of the tail. Their wings will also be transparent with a hint of brown and also be no longer dun in color. At spinner time the males will fall first followed by the females. Sometimes they want the males and sometimes the females. My egg ball TD Female Hendrickson Spinner pattern is a great pattern at this time and I usually will go with it right from the start because of the bright yellow fish attracting egg ball. At the spinner time usually temperature is a factor here and sometimes there can be an enormous rise of fish or just the opposite. You just never know but it is good to be ready for anything.
The Hendrickson hatch can be one of the most confusing of all the mayfly hatches or I should say one of the most challenging. I would have to say this is a factor because of the early spring time temperatures along with the cold water temperatures. As for the trout their metabolism is slow at this time and they just don't eat as much. A great thing about this is when the water does get warmer up to those forty degree temperatures, all heck breaks loose and it's a whole new world for us. Another factor about the Hendrickson hatch is other food sources that may just be easier to eat like so many other insects I just previously wrote about. We have the scuds and midge larvae that may be abundant in the flows and during these times the Hendrickson action can be passed up or ignored. Some other situations can also be the dreaded tiny fly midge hatches that can consist of pupa and emerging adults. Blue Wing Olives and the arriving little Blue Quills can also throw a wrench into the mix.
This early season stuff although not cut and dry can be looked at with frustration but I would suggest we look at it like I said a challenge. By doing this and when everything comes together, it can be as we all know a life time rewarding experience only a fly fisherman can know.
Attached photo is my TD CDC Brown Emerger
Hook - TMC 2488, Size 12
Thread - Uni 8/0 Camel
Tail - Brown Dyed Pheasant, Wood Duck or Mallard Flank
Abdomen - Brown Superfine Dubbing Wrapped Over Monofilament (See Note Below)
Abdomen Rib - Black Uni 6/0 Thread
CDC - Light Dun
Legs - Brown Dyed Wood Duck or Mallard Flank
Thorax - Brown Superfine Dubbing
Head - Uni 8/0 Rust Brown or Brown
Note: At the start of this fly tie in two abdomen area pieces of 20 pound monofilament parallel to the hook shank secured with super glue to give the emerger a natural fat and flat profile like the natural. Refer back to my article Nymphs – Starting The Pattern for detailed information and photo.
Tom Deane
Posted April 18th, 2010 by Tom Deane |
Hook - Mustad 94833,Size 12
Thread - Uni 8/0 Rust Brown
Tail - Two Black or Dark Brown Microfibbets 1 and 1/4 Body Length
Abdomen - Stalcup Micro Fine Rusty Brown Dubbing
Abdomen Rib - Uni 8/0 Tan Thread
Wings - 75% White Organza mixed with 25% Tan Organza
Thorax - Micro Fine Rusty Brown
Head - Uni 8/0 Rust Brown Thread
Posted April 18th, 2010 by Tom Deane |
Hook - Mustad 94833 Size 12
Thread - Gordon Griffiths 14/0 Cinnamon, Uni 8/0 Camel
Tail - 3 to 4 Natural Wood Duck Flank Tips Tied half of the Body Length
Egg Ball - Bright Yellow Foam
Abdomen - Superfine Amber Dubbing
Abdomen Rib - Hareline D-Rib, Half Round Rib Small Golden Stone Color
Wing - 75% White Organza with 25% White Organza Dyed Dark with Rit Tan
Thorax - Superfine March Brown Dubbing
Note - In the photo you are looking at a dry fly showing lighter color but when wet is an extremely close match to the real mayfly. This pattern is a "pick off" pattern that can be accurately thrown with great success to the biggest rising fish before and during the Hendrickson spinner falls.
Posted April 18th, 2010 by Tom Deane |
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