I headed out solo to a favorite hole and although I could not dial things in I noticed a sipper along the bank. I had my new little fiberglass fly rod loaded and ready to go with an Orange Asher and after getting a decent drift in the breezy conditions I fooled the fish. He was only about 10 inches but put a nice little bend in the rod which was a lot of fun. The rod is going to be great for small streams. While stopping through the snow on the way to the hole I saw a bug crawling on the snow. A closer look revealed what I believe is a winter stonefly.
As indicated there were some rises on occasion and I suspected midges and possibly the occasional stonefly but something caught my eye on the water. There was no mistaking the sailboat-like silhouette on the water. I nabbed him (or her?) off the water and although I smashed the wings I got a good macro shot of a blue wing olive! Entomology can be tricky but all indications point to BWO which is the first major mayfly hatch of the year on most western streams. I was just surprised because it was only the second week in February which is pretty darn early for these bugs. It was a great foreshadow of what will occur come springtime!
1 comment:
Loved the post. I have used the an orange asher lately on some of the midge hatches i have fished in. I can't wait until spring.
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