Grannoms and Hendricksons! We have been watching these hatches slowly getting started the last two weeks and this week and next week should be excellent. The bugs are moving on the bottom and with these flows high-stick nymphing can be deadly effective. Here is one of my favorite caddis patterns for getting deep this time of year. This fly is heavy and makes a great point fly. The Grannoms can be tricky on top and often I find imparting some action on them helps. I LOVE skittering big #14 or even #12 black stimulator patterns over fast riffs with wild fish that will absolutely chase down and crush skated caddis.
This is one of my favorite Hendrickson (Ephemerella Subvaria) aka Red Quill nymph patterns for fishing fast runs or deep pockets. This bug is a strong swimmer in slower water making swinging or jigging nymphs in slack-water effective. TroutNut notes that the presence of nymphs can negate the emerging duns we see on top so don’t be disheartened if you do not see many fish feeding on top when there are bugs on the water. Just go with the flow and get down, under the surface. The duns are pretty slow taking off after they hatch and the fish key in on that so fishing a dead drifted dun with a nymphal-shuck can be a great plan.
We had some great Blue Winged Olive (BWOs) action last week on the Yellow Breeches. Fish were taken using a wide range of methods including swinging soft-hackle wet-flies and using the Leisenring lift from downstream. This fly or this fly make nice nymph imitations to fish deep or swing for BWOs. The Olive’s were large, size 16 in several cases.
The Early Black Stoneflies (EBS) have been hanging around for the last several weeks on all types of water including some of our spring creeks. I have not had great success with fishing them on-top with dry fly patterns but THIS FLY from Orvis has been a great point fly to imitate the EBS the last few weeks using a scud or caddis trailer.
Streams are in great shape right now. Let’s hope this weather pattern holds and we continue to get rain. We are still coming out of drought conditions.
Contact us to schedule your trip on some of the best water in PA! We currently only have weekday trips available however fishing during the week can be the most productive and enjoyable fishing experience you will have all year. Most hatches only last a few hours so we are offering a spring special: 4 hours guided for $160!