March Browns on the Lower Yuba

The March Brown Mayfly is sort of a ghost hatch on the Lower Yuba. some years you'd never know they exist and the next year there they are. This is one of the years that they are happening. How do we know. The best indication is when you spot clouds of dancing male march brown spinners hovering over the water. They are the big ones. The females are smaller. You will often see these spinners bouncing above the runs. The females The spinners that you see hatched a few days earlier.

The duns hatch and hang around the bushes and trees for a few days and then they molt into sexually mature spinners.  Their colors darken, their wings become much clearer and in the case of the males their tails and forelegs elongate. They mate and the females return and drop their eggs.

March Brown Nymphs

The march brown mayfly typically arrives with the onset of spring. It is a "clinger" mayfly and clings tenaciously to rocks in the fast water. Does the name march brown mean that the fly hatches in March, not necessarily. In our river it is more of an April event and the conditions need top be just right. Big spring storms with high flows happen and you'll never know there are march browns in the river.

In our river the march brown nymphs are very dark brown and almost black. That doesn't mean that they are available to our trout very often. They have the ability to cling to rocks like no other. They also tend to hide under and in the crevices during daylight hours. They venture out at dark They are adapted to stay out of harms way. But when the nymphs become mature they sport large dark wing pads they start to get restless as they begin to contemplate emergence. They start to migrate to slower water along the edges. Guess what, they loose they foothold and end up in the drift. This is when fishing march brown nymphs are the most effective, basically prior to emergence.

Chironomid 101 - Part l - Chironomid Facts and Tips

As they used to say in the TV show Dragnet. "Just the facts, Maam" Here's some Chironomid facts and Tips to get us started with Chironomid 101. It's an introduction to this important stillwater bug.

Chironomids are the food source eaten more often than any other. I attended Phil Rowley's Stillwater Scholl where he compared them to M&M's. You put a bowl of M&M's on a table and you just grab handfuls and keep eating. Trout do the same when they feed on chironomids. Let's look at some facts about chironomids.

Seasonal Availability

• Larvae are available all season long, 12 months of the year

• The emerging pupae and adults are available two times a year. They become a main food source for stillwater trout in;

(1) April through June
(2) August through October

• With that said about the pupae, chironomid larvae or "bloodworms" are available for trout all year long and are a main food source for all stillwater trout all year long.

• Bloodworm patterns are a good choice during low light conditions and after recent windstorms.

• Chironomid Pupae patterns can also be used throughout the season as they have elongated emergence cycles. Trout will often take chironomid pupa patterns regardless of the season.

Fishing Tips for Chironomids

• When trout are found in water 20 feet or less, use a floating line and slip indicator. Start with suspending the flies one to two feet off the bottom. make sure you are just above any weeds.

• Experiment by moving the fly up one foot at a time to locate feeding fish. Sometimes 6 inches can make a difference.

• In water 15 feet or less also try using use a floating line and a long leader. This is called the "Naked Technique". Use a fly line like the Rio Indicator Line that has a orange 18" tip which will be your indicator. Takes will be seen as a movement by the orange tip rather than felt.

• When using the "Naked Technique", your leader should be 25% longer than the water is deep.

• When using the "Naked Technique" you must balance 4 variables.

(1) Leader Length
(2) Retrieve Speed
(3) Pattern Weight
(4) and the time to allow the pattern to sink

• Wind drift larva and pupa patterns by quartering across the wind and allow the ripple to swing through the water column. Watch the orange tip of the fly line for any movement.

• When fishing for chironomids in water over 20 feet deep use a full sink line, a type VI or VII and retrieve the fly vertically through the water column. Cast only the amount of line and leader as the water is deep. Count the flies down and use a shorter leader.

• Remember that when presenting imitations for the chironomids larva and pupa, the retrieves must be so slow that they are almost static.

• When fishing on the surface, pay attention to whether the trout are taking skittering or stationary adults. Present your flies accordingly.

• When trout are taking chironomids on the surface consider using a soft hackle retrieved slowly through the area of rising trout.

Chironomid Larvae Patterns

Size - 3/8" to 1" - Hook sizes #8 through #16 - A size #12 2x long is a good average size larva pattern

Shape - Slender, segmented and worm-like

Color - Many species are able to generate hemoglobin in order to survive in oxygen poor conditions.

• As a result scarlet red or maroon coloration is common.

• Larva can generate hemoglobin as conditions dictate which affects coloration. Candy Cane schemes of red and green are common on some lakes.

• Olive and bright green are other common colors

Chironomid Pupae Patterns

Size - 3/8" to 1 inch, hook sizes #8 - #18

• Chironomid tend to be larger in mud bottomed, algae type lakes. Sizes #12-#8

• In clear water lakes, Chironomids are smaller $10 -#18

• A #12 is a average pupa size and a good place to start.

• If trout do not appear to be selective to size try using one size larger so your fly will stand out from the naturals.

Shape - Comma-like shape.

• Many pupa patterns use scud pupa hooks to suggest the profile

• Most patterns have a bulbous thorax, slender segmented, tapered abdomens

• In clearer water or on lake with much angler pressure consider using slim realistic patterns.

Colors - Black, maroon, brown, olive, shades of green, tan.

• On dark days, use dark patterns.

• On bright days use bright patterns

• Pupae use trapped air and gases to aid pupal ascent and the adult transformation. This gives pupae a distinct silver glow.

• Pupae can change color as they absorb or replenish trapped gases

• Chironomids pupae have prominent white gills. The Chaoborus pupae do not.

• Use Super White beads in algae stained waters. They tend not to fouls as much as synthetic or natural materials do.

Chironomid Adults

Size - The adults are smaller than the corresponding pupa.

• Sizes #10 - #16 covers most adults

Shape - Similar in look to adult mosquitoes.

• Chironomid adults do not bite like mosquitoes.

Color - Colors mirror those of the pupa. recently emerged adults are bright. Their body color darkens once it hardens.

Chironomids - Their Importance to Fly Fishers

For most of us the thought of chironomids just makes us shake our head and wonder why. When we contemplate tossing a tiny midge pattern into that huge expanse of a lake it borders on the irrational. What chance is there that a trout would be able to distinguish our offering in that vast expanse of water poses many questions. One of them is why bother? Fortunately for us stillwater fly fishers the reality of presenting chironomids is different than our initial perception. Especially when it comes to the, pupa and larva in particular. Trout are more than capable of tracking down this calorie rich food source, often in alarming numbers, much more than we wish to give them credit for.

What is the real importance of chironomids to our stillwater fly fishing endeavors? Lets review some facts. Based upon studies, Chironomids are often acknowledged as the most important food source for stillwater trout. Throughout the fly fishing season, daytime feeding samples show that on some lakes 50% of the trout's daytime feeding consists of Chironomids. This drops to 14% for those fish feeding in the evening or at night. Of most importance is the fact that Chironomids are much more significant as a daytime food source.

Once we arrive on the lake and get firmly anchored into correct position we must choose a presentation technique based upon the conditions at hand while answering the challenge of what pattern to choose. Sounds pretty basic, right? We need to learn the life cycle of a chironomid to do so.


Chironomid Hatches

What about the Chironomid hatches? What time of year are they available to the trout and at what stage?

In general, various species of Chironomids hatch whenever there is water free of ice. Seasonal peaks occur from the third week in May to the second week in June and then steadily decline into the fall months. However, very large hatches of individual species can occur at most any time of the year on specific stillwaters. You need to do your homework to determine the hatches on the stillwaters you intend to fish. Use the internet or talk to fly shops in the areas you are intending to fish. Get informed.

Chironomid larva on the lake bottom will sometimes exceed 50,000 individuals per square meter and thus form 'major' hatches. If you are fishing in a 'major' hatch, use a fly that is slightly larger than the actual size of the pupa. For the fly fisher, minor hatches often result in more fish than a major hatch. Hatches usually occur during the daylight hours but various species will hatch at night.

As with all food sources that trout eat, the ultimate success for us fly fishers depends upon an intimate knowledge of the chironomid life cycle. Over the course of the season trout see and consume enough chironomids that they often react in a conditioned response whether there is a hatch or not. In essence if your fly is in front of their noses and you have tied on a reasonable imitation, they will probably eat it. This aspect is why we should not give up on targeting chironomids when fishing stillwaters.

Chironomid 101
I've been compiling research on chironomids from my library and from articles on the web and am writing a series of Articles on Chironomids that cover their Entomolgy and tactics for imitating them. I'll call the series of articles Chironomid 101. I'll also be integrating these articles in the Bug Section of the website. Keep tuned for some inside information on Chironomids from Brian Chan, Phil Rowley and a host of others.

The Slate Drake and the Gray Drake Mayflies

There seems to be some debate as to what genus that the larger Gray or Slate colored mayflies we come across on the Lower Yuba really are. The concensus is that they are Drakes. Are they the genus Siphlonurus or are they the genus Isonychia? I'm not an entomologist so the best I can do is research.

According to the information in the book "Flyfishers Guide to Northern California" put together by Seth Norman, the chapter authored by our local Ralph Wood, states that they are Gray Drakes or Siphlonurus occidentalis.
Hogan Brown has remarked that there is a minor Isonychia hatch on the Lower Yuba of which he has created a pattern the "Isonychia Nymph" to match.

Dave Sloan who regularly guides on the Lower Yuba has also come up with a fly to match the Isonychia mayfly, Sloan's Bead Head Mighty May Hendrickson fly pattern He states that it is an extremely effective choice when imitating mature Hendrickson (or Isonychia) nymphs.

The Siphloeurus mayfly is commonly referred to as the "Gray Drake". The Isonychia mayflies are commonly referred to as the "Slate Drake".

When I looked up the Slate Drake or Isonychia mayfly on the "Trout Nut" he states " In the West, Isonychia hatches are not very important, and they may be attributed to several minor species, especially Isonychia Velma ".

Well for now I'll refer to them as the Gray Drake, until someone who knows more about this than me can confirm which mayfly or both are present on the Lower Yuba.

As far as matching the Drake that hatches on the Yuba and catching fish it probably doesn't matter that much. I'll provide the entomology on both. If anyone can shed some light on this please let me know.


The Gray Drake, "Siphlonurus" Mayfly



Gray Drake

Scientific Name: genus Siphlonurus

Common Names: Gray drake, black drake



Nymph Size: 12-20 mm (1/2 to 3/4 in)

Nymph Color: Grays

Spinner Size: 12-20 mm (1/2 to 3/4 in)

Spinner Color: Wing: clear. Body: dark gray, burgundy, yellow-olive; bottom lighter than top

Other Characteristics: Nymph: three fringed tails; large gills; antennae less than twice as long as the width of the head. Duns and spinners: two tails.
spinner

About Gray Drakes

Gray drakes are swimmer-type mayflies. They inhabit weedy sections of slow moving streams and some lakes. In rivers, the mature nymphs move near shore, then crawl out of the water to emerge. Hatches are in the summer through September.

Nymph imitations should be fished like a small streamer, retrieving the fly near the bottom in short strips of a few inches (pause between each strip).

Because the duns don't emerge in the water, they are seldom available to trout during a hatch. Spinners patterns are very useful, however, and the large size of the natural insect piques the interest of trout. Egg-laying occurs over slow, flat water, and that is where your spinner imitation should be cast; it can happen at almost any time of day. Unfortunately the spinner falls can be so massive that it's difficult to get a trout's attention or for you to distinguish your fly from the hundreds of naturals.



The Slate Drake, "Isonychia" Mayfly


Isonychia Dun

Scientific Name: genus Isonychia

Common Name: Isonychia, Heindrickson


Characteristics


Nymph Size: 13-19 mm (1/2 to 3/4 in)

Nymph Color: Black, dark red-brown

Dun Size: 13-19 mm (1/2 to 3/4 in)

Dun Color: Wing: dark gray with mottling. Body: gray, red-brown

Spinner Size: 13-19 mm (1/2 to 3/4 in)

Spinner Color: Wing: clear. Body: dark red-brown or gray

Other Characteristics: Nymphs: slender shape; long hairs on front legs; three fringed tails. Duns and spinners: two tails; large hind wings


About Isonychias

Isonychia mayflies are strong swimmers, and live in moderate to fast flows. They are not important everywhere; in fact, they are of no importance whatsoever on most rivers. But where they occur, they are often found in good numbers and can generate aggressive and selective feeding from trout. They hatch during the summer months.

Prior to emergence, the nymphs migrate to slower water. During the migration, many drifting in the flow and are taken by trout. This creates the most productive fly fishing opportunity: dead-drifting nymph imitations near the bottom.

Nymphs crawl out of the water and onto to dry land to emerge, so there is little point in fishing a dun imitation. However, spinner falls can be important.


Nymph.





Isonychia Nymph, another view


Isonychia Spinner

Isonychia Notes:

• Use Hendrickson patterns that imitate the mature nymph life stage
• Use an impressionistic searching fly or as a realistic imitation when matching the hatch
• Hatches in eastern North America occur from spring (April) to early summer (June)
• Nymphs are active throughout the day, making this nymph a fantastic searching pattern when the current hatch is unknown
• Fish on a dead drift in medium to fast water
• Use a high stick nymphing technique through really fast riffles
• When targeting fish during a prolific hatch, cast upstream and drift through the main current
• Hendrickson nymphs can work quite well during heavy Isonychia
• When using the Hendrickson nymph to fish an Isonychia hatch, vary your presentation styles as these nymphs are quite mobile and could be anywhere within the river environment
• Trout strike quickly and aggressively when feeding on Isonychia, so be prepared to set the hook
• The typical nymph is size 14

Bugs - The Hydropsyche, "Spotted Sedge," Caddis

Bugs - The Hydropsyche Caddis






Each year I always look forward to summer and the hydropscyche caddis hatches. This bug is also commonly referred to as “the summer caddis” the “spotted sedge” or the “net spinning caddis”. On the Lower Sacramento River the bug takes on a brown or cinnamon cast. On the Lower Yuba River the bugs tend to have a green cast. The summer evenings will find active feeding fish willing to take caddis emergers and soft hackles. It is my favorite hatch of the year.

Ralph Cutter in his book “Fish Food” states that Hydropsychids are one of the most important of all insects for trout fishermen to know and understand. He also stated that despite this the Hydropsychids are one of the least understood and are poorly replicated. Almost no one fishes them correctly.

Hydrophsyche Facts

1. They are one of the few types of caddis that do not free roam in search for food.

2. The net-spinners build web retreats and let the food come to them.

3. They build funnel- shapped silken traps or span seines across gaps between rocks and sticks.

4. The uncased Hydropsyche is continuously exposed to trout, and ranges in size from 8-16 mm and can cycle through two or more generations in a fishing season.

5. Despite the fact the Hydropsyche builds a web retreat, it frequently strays and is commonly found roaming about streambed, draping strands of silk behind it in the cobbles. The silk not only works as a leash should the larva loose it’s footing, but it is also used by the caddis as a rappel line to lower itself across gaps between the rocks.

6. The larva are earth toned and difficult to see against the streambed background. By contrast the silk strands almost glow and are easily visiible from a distance. Trout have learned to key in to this luminescent line and frequently graze on the silk lines whether they have attached larva or not.
You can lighten the tippet for a foot or so above the larva imitation with a white grease pen, such as a Mean Streak marker.

7. When it comes time for pupation, the Hydropsyche entombs itself inside a dome of gravel. If you peel one of these cases off a rock, you’ll see that the bottom of the gravel dome is a sheet of silk through which you can view the evolving pupa.

8. With the exception of the Rhyacophilla, all other caddis pupa will be completely surrounded by sand and gravel.

Hydropsyche Habitat & Behavior

The preferred habitat of the Hydropsyche Caddis are riffles and runs. They often drift in the current, so where there are large populations, trout will feed on them year-round. A larva pattern dead-drifted near the bottom can be effective very effective in spring and fall, and even in winter.

Like all caddis, net-spinners pass through four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Most species require one year to develop from egg to adult. A few species pass through two generations in a single year.

In general, hatches are sparse in the spring. By June, activity increases. The heaviest activity often occurs in July and August.

Behavioral Drift




The larvae of net-spinning caddis periodically crawl out of their shelters, let go, and drift downstream 40, 50, or even 100 feet. This activity occurs on a daily cycle, and peaks near sunrise and sunset. Entomologists call this "behavioral drift" and speculate that it functions to disperse insect populations, thereby relieving competition and allowing the colonization of underutilized areas.

For the fishermen, it means increased food for trout, making nymph fishing during periods of peak drift very effective.

The Hydropsyche’s Life Line – A Gary LaFontaine Trick

Some hydropsyche caddis larvae throw a twist into normal drift behavior. Instead of simply letting go of the substrate, they attach a silk thread to the bottom and lower themselves downstream on a "life line." In his book Caddisflies, Gary LaFontaine discusses his increased success fishing with net-spinning caddis larva patterns when he colored the last 18 inches of his leader white to suggest this silk anchor line of the natural.



The Pupae



Once the larvae are mature, they seal themselves inside their shelter and transform into pupae. The pupae remain sealed inside until ready to emerge into adults. The complete development of the pupae typically requires four to six weeks.

When ready to emerge, the pupae swim to the surface, which is perhaps the most vulnerable period of the insect's life cycle. Trout feed selectively on the rising pupae, and imitating them is one of the most effective methods to use during a caddis hatch.

Peak emergence activity occurs in the late morning or early afternoon during the spring and fall. In mid-summer heavy hatches occur in the late afternoon and evening.



Hydropyshe Adults

Adult hydropsychids spend most of their time hiding on streamside vegetation. Mating occurs on the foliage, and unless a wind blows them over the water they are unavailable to fish.

Once egg laying begins, however, their vulnerability increases dramatically. Large swarms of gravid females congregate over the water from afternoon to late evening. To lay their eggs, they dive into the water and swim to the bottom, where they deposit strings of eggs on the substrate. Once egg laying is complete, they swim feebly back to the surface.

Such behavior makes them easy targets for feeding trout and an important stage for fly fishers to imitate. On streams like our Lower Yuba River, some of the fastest and most consistent fishing of the season occurs during the last hour of light when the hydropsychids lay their eggs.

Fishing Techniques

During a hatch, dead-drift a pupa pattern near the bottom in riffly water or just below riffles. An unweighted pupa pattern can also be drifted near the surface, or you can present a Soft Hackle with a wet-fly swing. Another good strategy is a dry fly with a pupa pattern as a dropper or trailer; the dry fly acts as an indicator and sometimes is taken by the trout.

After the hatch, errant and unlucky adults fall onto the water, and a dry fly is the right choice. Bankwater downwind or downstream from overhanging trees is a good place to cast your dry.

Females swim or crawl underwater to lay eggs. You can fish a dry at this time, or go subsurface with a Soft Hackle or Diving Caddis pattern.

Summary

Take some of these points to heart and you find out what a hammered take on a soft hackle is all about.

Glossosoma Caddis - Saddle Case Maker Caddis

On the Lower Yuba River in years when we have drought conditions, as we have had late this spring and early summer, there is a hatch of bugs that often has us asking ourselves. "What the heck are the trout eating?" The rise forms are subsurface, sometimes a fish will rocket out of the water like a missile. Is it an early season caddis? In most years the late spring and early summer typically have high flows due to seasonal storms and then water being shipped for rice or for other obligations. The river runs too high to even notice what bugs are around. Some years you'd never even know that the March Browns are happening. This is also the case with early season caddis, most years you'd never even know they are there!

This year is different, there have been drought condition flows all this late spring. The early caddis have become players once again. It was time to go back to "Bug Detecting". I got out my bug screen out last week and found lots of caddis larva, cream and tan.  I also screened cases from hatched bugs in the flow that were amber colored. There are lots of domed shaped cased stuck to the rocks in the Lower River. I've turned rocks and screened bugs and picked the domed shaped cases apart that are glued to the rocks. These tan/amber colored larva are Glossosoma Caddis. Their common name is Saddle Case Maker Caddis.

Here's information that I have dug up.

"In almost every tumbling coldwater stream in California lives an insect that is very important to trout  throughout the late spring and summer. When you've been turning over rocks you've probably noticed all those little gobs of pebbles glued to in-stream boulders. They look sort of like barnacles. These scabs of pebbles also give a reference to high water levels. All of these clusters of pebbles are used to house an immature Glossosoma caddis".

"The Glossosoma are a member of the Family Glossosomatidae, the most primitive of all the case making caddis. These caddis have  a unique technique of building a home. Most caddis larvae make tubular homes that they simply extend as they grow. The Glossosoma builds a pebble covered dome that must be discarded and replaced as they mature. Sort of like a kid outgrowing his pants".  This fact is what leads them to be important to the fish and the angler.

Glossosoma Larva

"At dusk or dawn, large and in some stream huge numbers of Glossosoma larvae crawl out of their shelters and release themselves to the current. The numbers can be staggering. In one survey done by the late, great Gary LaFontaine, Glossosoma larvae attained drift rates of 350 insects per hour through a one square foot portion of river. Gary calculated that a trout with a three foot feeding area was seeing up 1,600 drifting larvae in one hour. LaFontaine concluded that during certain times of the year, Glossosoma create very selective feeding of the trout". They lock in to the Glossosoma caddis.

"When it is time for the larva to build a new home they crawl out of their too small abode and release themselves into the drift. The larvae might drift for a few feet or a few hundred yards before it lands on the streambed. It quickly begins gathering gravel and within a few  hours has built a new home. This home is dome shaped with a hole on the bottom at each end of the dome. Across the bottom of the dome is a belly band woven from silk".

"The larvae crawls and grazes on a rock while carrying the domed house along with it, searching for algae and plankton upon which to feed. The larvae might travel one direction for awhile then turn around inside its case, stick its head out the opposite hole and continue on in another direction. After a week or so, the case once again becomes uncomfortably snug and the larvae once more vacates its home and casts its destiny to the current". Once again making themselves available for the awaiting trout.

"Some segment of the Glossosoma population is doing this every dawn and dusk throughout the late spring and early California summer. The heaviest drifts are said to occur about an hour after sunset".

Glossosoma Pupae

"At some point the larvae decide it’s time to pupate. They aim the holes of their home so the current percolates through, providing a fresh flow of oxygen. Then, for the final time, they glue their case to the rock upon which it sits. This affixing of the case to the cobbles and boulders of the streambed is excellent insurance against getting inadvertently swept into the drift. It also spells certain death on our Lower Yuba should the powers that be who regulate the releases at the Englebright dam decide to abruptly drop the water level exposing the pupa glued to the rocks. This could be the case this year due to river fluctuations".

"After several weeks of pupation, the pupa chews itself free and emerges from the pebbled dome, sometimes in the morning but more commonly about an hour after sunset. These size 16, sort of burnt orange colored pupae are very active swimmers. They often congregate in the soft water immediately downstream of riffle areas. The pupae hide among the cobbles during the day, but at dusk they emerge to swim about in an erratic jinking movement".

"One or two evenings after emerging from their rocky homes, a pair of sparkling bubbles develop just under the pupal skin at the shoulders. Possibly aided by the buoyancy of these bubbles, the pupae swim to the surface, drift a short distance (about one minute) then the adult pops out and immediately flies upstream".

"About an hour after sunset, adult Glossosoma caddis return to the river to lay their eggs. Glossosoma are one of the many caddis species which crawl and swim underwater to lay their eggs on the streambed. Having lost their gills, the adults are obligatory free air breathers and must carry their oxygen supply with them. This they do by cloaking their entire bodies in a bubble of air".

"The bubble feeds oxygen to the caddis as it swims and crawls about the streambed. As the oxygen is consumed, the pressure differential shifts and oxygen from the water is drawn into the bubble thus replenishing the caddis’ supply. The bubble encrusted caddisflies look nothing less spectacular than sparkling, animated diamonds. In the relative dark of the evening stream bottom, the bubbles reflect any available light and seem to glow from within. To say these guys are highly visible is a gross understatement".

Information derived from Ralph Cutter's www.flyline.com and "Caddisflies" by Gary Lafontaine

Tactics for the Glossosoma Caddis

In many Sierra streams, just about every evening of early summer starting about an hour after sunset, #16 pale colored larvae free themselves from their homes and drift, en masse downstream. On the Lower Yuba these larvae are cream or light brown in color. Shortly thereafter, #16 burnt orange or purpilish colored pupae emerge from hiding and start swimming about. Many of these sport sparkling bubbles of air and ascend to the surface and emerge. Only a short time after that, #16 brown adult caddis from an earlier night’s hatch return to the river and travel about the stream bed to lay their eggs.

The typical fisherman experiences this sequence initially by seeing a sudden burst of caddis adults winging their way upstream. There might be thousands of bugs. At the same time, trout are rising, slashing and flashing about at or just below the surface. Many excited anglers tie on a #16 elk hair caddis and presents them on the top of the water for about twenty minutes until the rises stop and the caddis disappear. Rarely do they catch a fish. This is a common result for many anglers fishing the evening caddis hatch.

Birds Nest

First Phase of the Hatch

To be successful stay out late and fish until about an hour after sunset. Start by tying on a #16 orange, pink or cream colored larva imitation. Ralph Cutter recommends to use a Bird’s Nest as most people carry the pattern and they work pretty well. Add some split shot and high stick the imitation downstream in a drag free drift right along the river bed. You are imitating the helplessly drifting larvae. Trout will be looking for the larva in the drift along the bottom.

Glossosoma Larva

Second Phase of the Hatch

When the first trout rises and you see dorsal / tail rises, or you start to experience a burst of caddis activity, you will want to try a different tactic. Tie on a #16 Birds Nest or caddis pupa pattern and a small split shot. Rub the fly in powdered floatant and lob it out and across the stream. The nymph will be buoyant from the floatant but the shot will help it break the surface. Actively retrieve the fly with a twitchy and erratic strip. You are imitating the actively swimming pupae. The fish focus and concentrate on the emerging pupa. They rarely if ever take a dry imitation on the surface. All those rising, slashing fish you’re seeing are NOT taking adults, they are feeding on the pupa just under the surface. They will ignore a caddis dry floating on top of the film.

Deep Sparkle Pupa

Third Phase of the Hatch

As soon as the fish stop rising, use this as the key to switch tactics again. There may be lots of caddis in the air but once the fish move down in the water column you must present your flies back on the bottom. Take another Bird’s Nest or other diving caddis pattern, make sure it is bone dry, and treat it with powdered floatant. Fish the flies along the bottom of the riverbed with little or no drag. The rises stopped because the trout settled back down to the streambed to graze on the highly visible and vulnerable caddis adults egg layers.

Another Option - Fish a Caddis Cripple

If you’re in the mood for some dry fly action try using a Caddis Cripple pattern in a size #16. One great pattern for this is Cutter's E/C Caddis.  Its shuck-trailing, bicolor body supported by the flared wing and parachute hackle makes the E/C caddis (Emergent Crippled caddis) a great match for the crippled Glossosoma. Another great pattern is Craig Mathews' X-Caddis. The Glossosoma caddis do a very efficient job of emerging, but enough don’t survive the transition and a percentage of the adults gets trapped in the pupal shuck. This presents an opportunity for fishing a cripple pattern.

E/C Caddis

You can also fish a Caddis emerger immediately following the caddis hatch. It is also a good choice to use it as a searching pattern earlier in the late afternoon and evening prior to the fish rising. Fish seem to be attracted to a dead drifted cripple and will often suck them in even while other types of insects are in the drift. When you see caddis in the bushes in the early summer a Caddis Cripple is a great searching pattern prior to the hatch.

Bugs - Mothers Day Caddis - Brachycentus Caddis

When I think of the Mothers Day Caddis which is the American Grannom of the Brachycentrdae family of caddisfly, I think of the day I had on the Lower Sacramento River in April a few years ago.

I was checking out the message board for NCFFB and came across some photos that had been taken the day before. There were rafts of caddis flies in the photos, I mean thousands.I called "The Fly Shop" in Redding to see what was up. They told me that the spring caddis were coming off big time and that it might last a week or two at the most. When this happens on the Lower Sac the hatch can be over in 10 days or linger on for a number of weeks, but that the massive blanket hatch can be over in 4 or 5 days on some years.

With that said, I called up my friend Blake and we headed up to Redding the next day. My son Zack played hooky and came along too.We put in at the Posse Grounds and rowed upstream to the riffle below the bridge upstream of the put-in.

We were early so I parked the boat and Blake and I got out and fished the riffle, wading into position to fish nymphs under indicators. I had a number of bumps once the caddis started popping and a couple of solid hookups. I landed one beefy bow after just about going for a swim when it took off downstream and I had to follow it down. I fortunately was able to land the fish and stopped and thought that was fun, but I really don’t feel like swimming today. I noticed a Fly Shop guide boat with clients working the run below me. It was a run about 300 yards long and they would row up, get set up and side drift the whole run eddy out, row back up and do it again. They were hooking up if not every time, most of the time, sometimes doubling up. After 45 minutes or so, we hopped back into the boat and I parked at the head of the run and anchored. When the guide rowed back up I asked him if he minded if I’d hit the run when they were at the bottom. He replied go ahead as they were headed downstream pretty soon any way. We took turns side drifting the run for awhile until he headed down stream and we had the run to ourselves. Moral is, ask and you shall receive, don’t ask and you’ll get dirty looks.



We were rigged up with Fox’s Springtime Pupa, Hogan’s Spring Fling pupa and some Soft hackles I had tied with peacock hurl bodies. We started fishing the run and had one of the most memorable days I’ve had fishing in Northern California. We fished this run and then crossed over and fished from river left and had similar luck. Our only problem was that our truck was 7 miles down river at the Bonnieview takeout. We could have fished there all day and then just taken out where we put in. Oh well, we still had a great day fishing on down to the takeout.

So, next year check out "The Fly Shop’s" fishing reports starting in mid March and through April tie up some flies with peacock herl bodies and make a point to hit this hatch.

Clay

The March Brown Mayfly

March Brown

Scientific Names: Rhithrogena morrisoni, R. hageni


Common Names: March brown, western March brown


NYMPH SIZE: 8-12 mm (5/16 to 1/2 in)
NYMPH COLOR: Dark brown, sometimes olive-brown
DUN SIZE: 8-15 mm (5/16 to 5/8 in)
DUN COLOR: Wing: mottled brown and tan. Body: brown on top, tan below.
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS: Nymph: gills overlap under the abdomen; flattened appearance; three-tailed; head is wider than the abdomen. Dun has two tails.





March Brown Maddness

The spring time here in the Sierra Foothills and specifically on the Lower Yuba River is the time to get out on the lawn and start sharpening your dry fly strokes and presentations. It’s the time for the March Brown’s to make their presence felt. If you like the appeal of fishing dries to feeding fish, then the time of April and May is around the corner. March Browns are one of my most remembered and glorified hatches on the Lower Yuba River. Funny how that is, how as time goes on you forget the hours spent with refusal after refusal and remember the successes.

Even though the bugs often hatch in godawful weather and us fly fishers have spent many a March afternoon shivering, fishing a run as droplets of cold rain run down the sleeve of our casting arms, we would do it again tomorrow. We’d rather be there suffering and attempting to catch fish. As the month of March begins to wind down the hatches of Blue Wing Olives, "Baetis" and Skwala Stones, “Perlodidae," have been going on steadily since February a new player shows up. As late March and April arrives the days will typically start warming and the water temperatures will also go up which triggers the March Brown mayfly to start hatching. They can hatch in just about any weather. This is the "Rithrogenia Morrisoni" hatch. This large mayfly is typically an afternoon hatch and once it starts happening you can almost set your watch from it.

It seems though that for the past couple of years the March Brown hatch has not occurred with the intensity of past years on our Lower Yuba River. Whether this has to do with the changing structure of the river or from high water conditions channeling and rolling the river’s cobbled bottom I’m not sure. I am planning on observing this hatch closely this year will share the results. Any one else have any thoughts on this?

Where They Live

As members of the clinger group of mayflies (family Heptageniidae), March Brown nymphs live in riffles and fast, rocky runs. Nymphs are so well adapted to their habitat that they are seldom found in the drift until emergence time. As the nymphs near maturity, they migrate to slower (but not slow) water, usually within a hundred yards above or below a riffle.

Hatches usually start in the early afternoon. Just prior to the hatch, nymphs are often found drifting in the current, so it makes sense to present a nymph pattern near the bottom beginning a couple of hours before the hatch. As the nymphs hatch, they often drift a long distance before reaching the surface, so you find drifting nymphs anywhere from just below a riffle to runs that are well below them.


The Hatch

The March Brown hatch that takes place on the Lower Yuba River can be a complex hatch with BWO’s and PMD’s coming off and then the March Brown’s showing up to the dance, crashing the party.

On most days the BWO’s and PMD’s have been hatching for an hour or more and the trout’s attention can quickly turn to the larger March Brown’s. As trout switch their focus to the March Brown duns and you see surface rises, switch to a dry fly. This where having binoculars to scan the surface and see which bugs the fish are taking can really pay off. The March Brown duns usually emerge on the surface. As the early stages of the hatch begin to take place, larger and more dominate trout will actively take naturals on the surface.

Sometimes, however, emergence happens underwater as the dun floats to the surface. In this case a "flymph" or down-wing wet fly works best. As the hatch progresses the larger of the trout will often disappear below the surface film and begin feeding on the struggling emergers. Smaller more aggressive trout will still feed on top on naturals stranded in the film. During the peak of the emergence, March Brown’s can be littered across the water.

When fishing dries on the surface, being successful with the March Brown hatch requires an imitation that floats drag free and must pass a close inspection by the trout. Timing of the presentation is critical because the feeding trout won’t break their rhythm very often. For those unwilling or find it difficult to present a drag free drift to feeding fish, the chances of action during the hatch are increased dramatically with a soft hackle swing. Swinging soft hackle imitations under the first few inches of the surface film can provide anglers with some exciting, wet fly fishing. Activity of the hatch can last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half.

Once a daily appearance of March Browns becomes consistent, as mentioned earlier, you can set your watch to the time of their emergence. On most days the hatch will begin sometime between 1:30 p.m and 2:00 p.m. Positioning yourself on a section of river that is consistently producing a prolific emergence each day can provide an angler with some exciting match the hatch fishing.

I can't wait to retire my Switch rod, shot, indicators and such for a while and break out my 5 weight.

Clay

March Brown research from www.westfly.com and Rick Hafele at www.laughingrivers.com

Photos of March Brown's also from www.westfly.com

Techniques- Fishing the PMD Hatch

Last year Blake Larsen and I had dropped my drift boat into the Lower Yuba River and I was rowing upstream to a large eddy pool where we typically start our fishing. As I rowed upstream we noticed lots of swallows buzzing the river. They were gobbling up PMD's as they took off from the surface film and headed into the air. The PMD's were running the gauntlet. I anchored and we watched this happen for about five minutes. If 5 out of a hundred PMD's made it to safety without becoming a meal that may be exaggerating. It was a feast for the swallows that's for sure. I bet you can guess how we rigged up.

The Hatch
Pre- Emergence
The nymphs of these species, like all Ephemerellidae, are known as crawlers due to their habit of crawling over the substrate and generally poor swimming ability. While crawling along the stream bottom the nymphs feed on algae and decaying vegetation such as leaves and wood debris. Nymphs frequently get washed into the currents, and because of their abundance this “drift” provides important food for trout. It also means that nymph imitations are important, especially in the weeks and days prior to emergence. The wide distribution and abundance of these species also means nymph imitations can be successful searching patterns most of the year.
For nymphs a dark gold ribbed Hares Ear, pheasant tail, Skip's Nymph or HBI tied in the appropriate size (18-14) will usually do the trick. There are of course many match the hatch patterns as well. I find the above patterns work very well. It's pretty simple. Do some sampling, catch some bugs, put them in a white tray or lid, drop your nymph patterns into the lid and see what matches. Nothing to it. Go fishin'.

Some people say that using bead head patterns will help get them to the bottom. I like to fish with non-bead head flies and just use split shot to get them down. Fish them dead-drift along the edges of and below riffles, through pocket water or along undercut banks. Nymph patterns are most effective just prior to emergence when the naturals are migrating to slower water or beginning their restless ascent to the surface for emergence. On the Lower Yuba weighted flies and split shot are necessary to get the flies near the bottom during the early stages of the hatch when most nymphs are still on the bottom. Later nymphs can be effectively fished in mid depths without weight. A strike indicator located six or seven feet above the fly, is a great help for detecting strikes when fishing these small nymphs.


Stage One - Nymphing

During the hatch's early stages fish are focused on PMD nymphs and emergers, so most of the action is subsurface.

Indicator Nymphing -

Rigg up with a nine foot 3x leader. Add 16" of 4x flurocarbon to attach your 1st nymph, (maybe an HBI), place shot at the knot at the end of the 3x leader. Tie another 14" section of 5x tippet to the hook bend of your 1st fly and the add your second fly (maybe an Pheasant tail). If your brave enough add a third fly. Attach a "Boles Indicator" and set it at about 7 to 8 feet to the shot. Adjust the depth as necessary. Note: Try using the "Davy Knot" for attaching your flies to the tippet.

Use standard upstream indicator tactics to present the nymphs when wading.

Tight Line Nymphing
Use a nine-foot 5X leader and tie on the your favorite PMD imitation. Put enough split shot on the leader about eight inches above the nymph. Cast downstream and across, allowing the nymph to sink to the bottom, then swing across in the current. Trout will take the fly as it rises from the bottom during the downstream swing.
Stage Two – Emergers and Duns
Changing from nymph to dun is often a trying task for these mayflies. When everything goes right the nymphs hang in or just under the surface as the wings of the dun escape the nymphal shuck and break through the surface. This is a good time for a floating nymph pattern. Often, however, not everything goes right. Duns with wings partially unfurled get caught in the surface and never get off the water. Soft hackles or flymphs make excellent emerger patterns when this occurs.

Fish floating nymphs or flymphs upstream and across with a dead-drift float. I prefer casting to fish I’ve spotted feeding just under the surface on emerging duns. However, even fish clearly taking duns will often take a well presented emerger after refusing numerous dun patterns.
Surface activity can be fast during the often heavy hatches of these mayflies. For this reason a good durable dry fly can save a lot of time from changing flies between fish. Compara-duns have proven themselves very durable and imitative. In recent years, however, I have found “Harrop” duns (originated by Rene Harrop) to be equally durable and more effective at fooling selective fish. Fish during these hatches can become ultra selective. Patterns from 14’s to 20’s may be needed depending on the local species and conditions. The color of the naturals varies on the Lower Yuba River and sometimes we have noticed two differents PMD’s hatching at the same time. It’s always best to collect a hatching dun and select a pattern according to its size and color. You should rigg up with an 11-foot, 6x leader and replace the nymph with a Sparkle Dun or PMD Cripple. Sparkle duns and Cripples are nice representations of emerging duns or duns trapped in the shuck which are states that trout particularly focus on. Delicate presentations and drag-free floats are a must when fishing dries during these hatches. If you are getting refusals with an upstream cast, try a downstream slack-line presentation. To achieve a downstream drag free float, try a pile cast, where the line and leader to fall down in a heap about five feet above a rise. Make two quick strips to separate the fly line from the fly. The current will gradually straighten the tippet, but not before the fly floats naturally over a trout. If that fails and naturals are seen fluttering on the surface struggling to get airborne, try giving your fly slight twitches.

Spinners
Finally, watch carefully for spinners in the evening. They can be surprisingly difficult to see in the fading evening light. Rises to spinners are also subtle. A simple hackled fly clipped top and bottom makes a good spinner pattern. A downstream slack-line cast, carefully positioned over the feeding lane of a rising fish, is usually the best approach.

Research for this article from;
Rick Hafele's website www.laughingrivers. com

Westfly at www.westfly.com

PMD's on the Lower Yuba River

On the Lower Yuba River we have been seeing glimpses of what is coming as the season progresses and the temperatures start to warm up. On warmer days there have been PMD's floating on down the river. It seems to me that in the last couple of years that they are coming earlier in the season then I remember from years ago. Here's some stuff to get you prepared. Start cleaning those dry lines and organize your fly boxes.

Ephemerella Infrequens - Pale Morning Dun

PMD Spinner

______________________________________________
Hatches– February through July on the Lower Yuba
Names: genus Ephemerella
Common Names: Pale morning dun, PMD

______________________________________________
NYMPH SIZE: 7-12 mm (1/4-1/2 in)
NYMPH COLOR: Olive-brown, red-brown
DUN SIZE: 7-12 mm (1/4-1/2 in)
DUN COLOR: Wing: smoky gray. Body: pale yellow to tan.
SPINNER SIZE: 7-12 mm (1/4-1/2 in)
SPINNER COLOR: Wing: clear. Body: darker than dun, but still light brown with yellow and olive hints; basically, rusty.
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS: Last two-thirds of nymphs' tails are fringed with fine hairs. Duns, nymphs, and spinners have three tails. Duns and spinners have small rounded projections on the leading edge of the hind wing.

____________________________________________

PMD Dun

PMD Nymph

_________________________________________________

About Pale Morning Duns

On the Lower Yuba there is a PMD hatch that starts in early spring sometimes as early as February if the weather warms up. This is one of the better hatches on the Lower Yuba. Pale morning duns have everything going for them, large numbers that trigger aggressive surface feeding, fussy enough to offer a challenge, but not so difficult as to be too frustrating.

This small, pale-yellow mayfly of the crawler group is often referred to by its initials, PMD. Despite the name, pale morning dun, hatches can occur in the morning, early afternoon, or evening. It's not unusual to have both morning and evening emergences on the same day. The hatch season on the Lower Yuba River begins as early as February and lasts as late as September. This is often the dominant hatch when it occurs. Trout take nymphs all day, and duns and emerging duns during the hatch. The best places on the Lower Yuba River to fish for the PMD's are slower runs, back eddies, and tail-outs. Shortly before a hatch, dead-drift a nymph near the bottom. As the hatch begins, present a nymph near the surface or as a rising nymph. As trout begin taking duns off the surface, tie on an emerger, cripple, or dun pattern. Because the hatch usually happens in slow, clear water you may need a thin tippet, sometimes 6X fluorocarbon. You may also need to make a downstream presentation to a fish whose location you are certain of.


The spinner stage is almost as important as the hatching duns. Spinners are usually well matched with the classic Rusty Spinner.

I will follow this up with a future blog post, "Patterns" for the PMD's

Clay

______________________________________

Entomology information gathered from www.westfly.com and from Rick Hafele's website www.laughingrivers.com

Photos of PMDs from www.westfly.com and from www.troutnut.com

Patterns - The Skwala Stone and the Lower Yuba River

Skwala Pattern Notes

When matching the Lower Yuba River Skwalas remember that the bugs here locally are different in color than their cousins in Washington and Montana. A lot of the patterns for sale in the flyshops or on-line are different in color. Our local Skwalas have an abdomen that is a dirty yellow with a slight olive tinge. Also, the wings are dark gray. This is where it really pays to collect some specimens from the river and take them home to match the color.

Look for the shucks around the bushes and rocks to give you an idea on recent hatch activity. Catch an adult, turn over some rocks and catch a nymph. Match the color and size.

Skwala Nymph’s Characteristics







Color: Dirty Olive with a slight olive tinge, lighter on bottom sometimes yellowish

Size: 17-21mm

Defining physical characteristics: Two long antennae, two tails, 2 separate pair of wing pads, 3 sets of legs, external hair-like gills between legs, t-shaped claws at end of each leg.

Skwala Dry Fly Notes



Adults Color: Olive to dark brown with mottled orange around the legs

Size: 17-21mm

Defining Physical Characteristics: Adult female Skwala's will have a pronounced egg sack dark purple to black in color and about 2-3mm in diameter under their abdomens. The female Skwala sits low in the surface film while she is depositing her eggs and will be readily available to trout.

Pattern Characteristics

Most Dry Skwala patterns are imitated by a Stimulator type pattern. They are tied in a size #10, with a 3x long hook. It is important that your pattern sits low in the surface film. If you watch the female adult on the water, you will see that it looks like a stick with moving legs. The low riding Skwala Dries should have the female’s prominent black egg sack. Trim the hackle on the bottom of the fly so it will to settle into the surface film.

Fishing Techniques

When are the times to imitate Skwalas to be sucessful:

• As active nymphs they are often found in the water/food column for the trout, being knocked loose and free drifting. This is especially true during pre-hatch periods when their movement activity increases dramatically.


• They are also available to the trout as the female adult returns to the water to lay eggs.



• On a windy day as the adult is blown on to the water, and;



• As a spent adult that falls on the water to die.

How to Present Imitations

• Use as either an impressionistic searching fly or as a realistic imitation when matching the hatch


• Drift the fly through different water types; faster riffles and shallower water near the banks of a river with moderate to slow currents are the most productive water types for this fly


• Skwala stoneflies are available to trout during the early season (January – April) on the Lower Yuba River


• Hatches occur consistently and with long duration throughout the daylight hours



• Strikes on skwala stoneflies are often far from subtle because trout must often be prepared to rip these strong clingers from their rocky homes



• When approaching a shallow water environment with a stonefly imitation, be extremely careful not to spook happily feeding trout

How to Rigg for Nymphing

Set up for nymph fishing with a two or three rigg under indicator.

• Rigg with a tapered 9 ft 2x or 3x leader to a tippet knot.


• Add 12 “ of 3x fluorocarbon to your favorite Skwala stone nymph imitation (Mercers Skwal Stone, hint)


• Put split shot at the tippet knot above the stonefly nymph. The knot will stop the split shot from sliding down to the fly.


• Tie 4x Flurocarbon tippet to the hook bend of the Stonefly nymph and extend 12” to 16” to a caddis pupa dropper.



• Tie 5x Flurocarbon tippet to the hook bend of the caddis pupa nymph and extend 12” to 16” to a mayfly BWO or PMD nymph.

How to Rigg For Dries

• Rigg for a standard dry fly presentation


• Use a tapered 10 ft. 4x tapered leader


• Extend tippet using 4x flurocarbon 24" +/-


• Attach your favorite Skwala Dry pattern
  

Skwala Nymph Patterns


____________________________________________________________________
Hogan's Yuba Rubber Leg Stone





This is Hogan Brown's stone fly pattern. Like many of his patterns it's a keeper.


_____________________________________________________

Hogan's Bottom Roller

Hogan's Bottoms Roller is another good looking stone fly nymph.









____________________________________________________

Willies Yuba Skwala Nymph

Materials:
Hook: TMC or Targus 200R #4 - 14
Thread: Black
Abdomen: Copper Flashabou or Braid
Collar: Peacock Herl
Underwing: 4 Peacock Herl Tips
Overwing: Copper FlashabouHackle: Guinea
Optional: Copper bead.




____________________________________________________________________
Anderson’s Rubber Leg Stone

Hook- TMC5263 with weight added
Thread- Dark Brown 3/0
Tail- White round rubber leg sections
Abdomen- Cream on bottom to match hares ear thorax and medium brown woven synthetic fuzzy yarn on top
Legs- White round rubber leg material
Thorax- Medium brown hares ear and muskrat dubbing left shaggy.\




Pattern Designer: George Anderson.

Note: Adjust coloration to naturals on the Lower Yuba
____________________________________________________________________
The People's StoneflyCreated by Jeff Morgan
HOOK: Dai Riki 700BB, sizes 6-10
THREAD: To match body color
UNDERBODY: Lead wire or tape, flattened and cut to shape
TAIL: Golden-brown goose biots, tied in a "V"
BODY: Tan Kaufmann's blend
BACK: Brown Body Stretch
RIB: Fine brass or copper wire
THORAX: To match body
LEGS: Two pairs of black rubber legs
WINGCASES: Three sections of brown body stretch, cut into "Vs"
ANTENNAE: Golden-brown good biots, tied in a "V"
HEAD: Brass bead


____________________________________________________________________

Mercer’s Skwala Stone

Available through http://www.theflyshop.com/






This pattern one of my favorite stone fly patterns. You can purchase in on-line.










Dry Patterns


I have found photos of various Skwala Dry Fly patterns. I do not have the recipes. Some of these flies wre available online bit I should note that you will be able to better match the Lower Yuba Skwalas if you tie your own. A mentioned earlier catch a dry Skwala specimin and match the coloration and size.
________________________________________________________

Hogan's Split Wing Skwala Stone

This Hogan Brown Pattern has been proven on the Lower Yuba.







________________________________________________________

This pattern was developed by Randall Kaufmann.

Credit for the Stimulator’s design is often given to master fly tyer Randall Kaufmann, who promoted the fly heavily in the western United States.

Kaufmann’s Olive Stimulator is a perfect imitator of that, limited, but often highly productive early season hatch of Skwala stoneflies. With its subdued olive floss body, stiff elk hair wing, and supportive hackle, this fly will ride neatly and visibly on the water’s surface – just where those hungry Montana and Washington trout want it.
Note: The colors of this pattern should be adjusted and matched to the colors of the Lower Yuba Skwala.


________________________________________________________


This pattern used elk hair for floatation, rubber legs for movement, Light elk hair for visability.








____________________________________________________

I like how this pattern is tied very sparse. It looks like it would be easy to cast.









________________________________________________________


This is a foam pattern that should float like a cork.