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FLIES & FLY TYING
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What's on this page:

Fly of the Month


Reference Items:
The May Fly Life Cycle
A 360 Degree View of Popular Flies
Fly Hook Comparison Chart
Selecting the Right Hair
Regional Hatch Charts
Matching the Hatch





FLY OF THE MONTH


Fly of the Month for February 2012 is the Winter Summer Caddis

This very small caddis fly is an important fly on the Farmington River.  While it is present during the summer it also hatches during winter months and is likely to be the ticket if you venture over there this time of the year, particularly if you are looking for some surface action.

Winter Summer Caddis

This pattern represents the female pupa which has no wings and is fished in the surface film with an occasional twitch.  It is attributed to David Goulet who had owned a fly shop on the river.  It is a simple fly to tie.

Hook:          curved emerger hook in sizes 18 to 22, and sometimes 24

Thread:       brown

Body:          2 mm brown or light brown foam strip

Hackle:       black hen hackle, or starling on smaller sizes

Head:          black super fine or mole dubbing

Cover the hook with thread.  The foam strip should be several times the length of the hook shank.  With the hook shank covered with thread and the thread a short distance from the eye, attach one end of the foam to the front of the hook and wind the thread back to create segmentation with open spiral wraps.  Wrap part way down the bend and bring the thread back to the head.  Now fold the remaining foam forward to the eye tying it off slightly back from the eye to leave room for the head and hackle  Next attach the hackle but dub a small head before you wrap the hackle.  The hackle requires only two turns.  Snip off the excess.  Although the picture shown above shows hackle extending above and below the fly some tiers clip the top and bottom leaving only the fibers extending to the sides.  To see a video being tied by Rich Strolis go to:

http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2009/08/07/winter-caddis-pupa/




REFERENCE SECTION


The Mayfly Life Cycle

Link to the video below.  An excellent piece on the mayfly and its life cycle.

http://www.midcurrent.com/video/clip...er_mayfly.aspx
 



A 360 Degree View of Popular Flies

This site offers 360 degree views of many flies.  It is organized in seperate groups by fly tier, many whom are well known, and in many cases the recipes for the flies are included.  The list of flies that are included continues to grow.  By using your mouse you can rotate the picture of a fly to view it from any direction, and by using the wheel on your mouse you can zoom in or out on the fly's image.  If you have questions about proportions when you are tying one of these flies this site can be very helpful.   

Click on this link:  http://www.flytyingclips.com/index.html

 


Fly Hook Comparison Chart

To cross reference hooks that are distributed by  Mustad, Tiemco, Daiichi, Orvis, and Partridge go to:

http://www.killroys.com/hooks/hookchrt.htm#refined


Selecting the Right Hair

For a tutorial on selecting the proper hair for various tying applications go to:

http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/flies/craven_hair_1.aspx



A Tutorial on Tying with Biots

For a well detailed description on tying fly bodies using biots click on:

Click on:  http://www.sexyloops.com/flytying/summerbiots.shtml


Check our Contacts & Links Page for Links to Helpful Tying Information



Hatch Charts


Al Caucci's Hatch Charts

Al Caucci's website has an interesting on line "match the hatch chart."  Just plug in the date and it will give you the flies that are probably hatching in the region along with pictures of the insects and flies for that particular time frame.  Note that as one of the originators of the "compara" style of fly design that his duns, emergers, and spinners will tend to be shown in that style.  Go to:

http://www.mayfly.com/scripts/drcnewdesign8.cgi/cc/


Significant Mayfly Hatches in Our Region


The following list covers the more significant mayfly hatches in our region, although the occurrence of a couple of these may flies can be spotty.  The time frames will vary somewhat depending upon the weather and abnormal water conditions.  Also when fishing tail waters the cold water temperatures will impact the emergence and time frame of some of these species.  Make a point to check the blackboards or websites of fly shops in the area you intend to fish so that you will have the most current information on what is hatching.

         

Mayfly                                           Time Frame                                           Fly Size

Quill Gordon                                 end of Mar to mid June                       12 - 14
(e. Pleuralis)

Blue Winged Olive                      early Apr to early Nov                         18 - 26
(b.vegans, p. Anoka)

Blue Quill                                      early Apr to early May                         18
(paraleptophlebia adoptiva)

Hendrickson                                early Apr to early May                          12 - 14
(e. Subvaria)

March Brown                               late Apr to early Jun                              10 - 12
(s.Vicarium)
 
large Sulphur                             early May to early Jun                           14 - 16
 (e. Invaria)

Brown Drake                              mid May to mid Jun                                10 - 12
(ephemera simulans)
 
little Sulphur                              mid May to mid Jul                                 16 - 20
(e. dorthea)

Light Cahill                                 mid May to late Jul                                 14 - 16
(s. candense)

Grey Fox                                     mid May to early Jun                             12 -14
(s. Fuscum)

Green Drake                               mid May thru mid Jun                              8 - 10
(e. guttulata)

Isonychia                                   early Jun to mid Sep                               12 -14
(i. bicolor)

Trico                                            Jun thru Sep                                              22 - 24
(t. stygiatus)

Golden Drake                             late Jun thru mid Jul                                  8 - 10
(potomanthus)
Recommendations for Matching the Hatch



Northeastern Region Fly Recommendations for Hatch Matching:

The fly patterns and sizes listed below cover many of the important hatches found in 
this region. 


I.      Mayflies:

a.    Light Hendrickson-(E. Subvaria Female) End of April to end of May. #12 Hook

b.    Dark Hendrickson-(E.Subvaria Male) End of April to end of May. #14 Hook

c.    Eastern Sulphurs-(E. Invaria & Dorothea) Mid May to early July. #14, #16, #18, #20 Hook

d.    Light Cahill-(Stenonema) Early June to early September. #12, #14 Hook

e.    Blue Wing Olives- (Drunella & Baetis) April to December. #18, #20, #22, #24, #26 Hook
 
II.     Caddis:

a.     Green Pupa Pattern-(Imitates Grannom, Spotted Sedge and Various other Caddis). #14, #16, #18, #20

b.    Olive Pupa Pattern-(Imitates Spotted Sedge, Little Sister Sedge and Various other Caddis).#14, #16, #18, #20

c.     Tan Pupa Pattern-(Imitates Spotted Sedge, Summer/Winter Caddis and Various other Caddis).  #16, #18, #20, #22

d.    Dark Grey Adult-(Imitates Grannom, Blue Sedge, Summer/Winter Caddis and Various other Caddis). #16, #18, #20, #22

e.     Olive Adult-(Imitates Spotted Sedge, Little Olive Sedge and Various other Caddis). #16, #18, #20, #22

f.      Tan Adult-(Imitates Spotted Sedge.) #16, #18, #20

g.     Dark Grey Diving Adult-(Imitates Grannom, Chimarra and Various other Caddis). #14, #16, #18

h.     Green Diving Caddis-(Imitates Rhyacophila and other Various Caddis). #14, #16, #18

i.      Tan Diving Caddis-(Imitates Spotted Sedge and other Various Caddis). #14, #16, #18
 
III.  Midges:

a.    Midge Worm- Red, Black and Grey- #20, #22, #24

b.    Midge Emerger- Red, Black and Grey- #20, #22, #24, #26

c.    Cluster Midge- Black- #18, #20, #22, #24

For examples of some of these flies go to "Some of George's Favorites" at the bottom of the Fly Pattern Archive page.


 
 
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