Flies and the insects that they imitate.
Terrestrial insects, including ants, beetles, houseflies, bees, spiders, crickets, grasshoppers, worms, moths and more do not intentionally spend any of their life cycles in the water. The only time that they get in the water is when they land in the water accidentally, helped by the wind, rain or snow. Contrary to popular belief, they do not constitute a large part of the trout’s diet; in fact, it is believed that they may be only 1% of their diet.
Midges are an important source of food for trout and yet, trout anglers are shy about using them. We have explained the appearance of midges as well as examining life cycle of midges in our blog "Midges are a Staple in the Diet of a Trout".
Chironomid is the scientific name for midges which are small insects, averaging from 1 to 10mm long and resembling mosquitos, but unlike mosquitos they do not bite. They live in fertile streams and ponds and are extremely prolific, which is why they are often seen as clouds of insects. They are an important source of food for trout all year long. In the late summer and the winters, they take up the slack when other aquatic hatches have slowed.
This past Saturday, Steve and I finally had the opportunity to go trout fishing, something that has escaped us for all too long. We decided to leave Charlotte at 6:00 am and drive four hours up to Bluff City, Tennessee to check out the sulphur hatch for ourselves since the South Holston is so famous for sulphurs. First, we stopped by Bojangles for 2 ham biscuits!
When thinking about fly selections, I am always thinking ahead by at least one month. Currently I am thinking about the hot summer months which are already here in the Smokies; and summer will soon be approaching the higher levations such as the Yellowstone National Park. I am thinking terrestrials right now.
We at Trout University have the privilege of co-linking with Flyfishingnc.com and since I have written about stoneflies for the summer, I decided to see what Flyfishingnc.com had to say about the subject. Answer: Plenty, so here is a reprint from flyfishingnc.com.
The Order Plecoptera, known as the Stone fly. The stoneflies are terrestrial as adults, but in the nymphal stages they are strictly aquatic, and most are restricted to flowing waters of relatively high oxygen concentrations due to their gills. That is why they are usually found in faster moving water.
The characteristics of the stoneflies are that they have two claws at the end of each leg and two sets of wing pads. They have two short, heavy tails, two antennae and the have the appearance of being "armor plated."
Stoneflies represent a big portion of the trout’s diet in the Smokies where there are species of all nine families of stoneflies. The most important species with the biggest populations of stoneflies present in the Smokies is the Periodidae whose size and shape vary only slightly.
When you are on a stream for the first time, the most important thing for a fly fishing angler to do is to identify the types of aquatic insects and the stage of the hatch for those insects. From this information, the angler can intelligently select the correct fly pattern to duplicate the species and the life cycle of insects the trout are currently eating. You may select a nymph, dun, wet dun, spinner, cripple etc. depending on your findings.
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