AQUATIC INSECT.NET BY JAN HAMRSKY
Some nice macro work here by Hamrsky on aquatic insects relevent to fly tying & fly fishing.
Jan Hamrsky at AquaticInsect.Net
Posts Tagged ‘Insectology
29
Dec
11
Aquatic Macro Work: Jan Hamrsky
All things Odonata (Dragons & Damsels) at NW Dragonflier. The Winter time is a good time to study up on fish foods. For some it is a good time to do stream samples and study the health of a stretch of stream (here)
A kick seine to collect stream samples. This can be a one/two person operation. Most of us once on the stream do not have the patience for such studies. We may turn over a rock here and there to watch nymphs scurry, but that is often the extent of our studies. Sam Martin photo of Mike Steffen using kick seine.
25
Oct
11
fe
“Once a year, billions of mayflies converge on a lake in Russia’s Primorye province to mate, spawn and die… all on a single day.” The video remarks that a year ago, ‘thousands’ of mayflies laid their eggs over the Primorye lake. That translated into billions of mayflies? So later, how many of those billions were females that laid eggs? I find all these math problems so confusing…kind of like the two trains departing, math problem….always terrible at algebra.
WILD RUSSIA Episode 7 Mayfly Hatch
A different Russian Dance of the Mayflies by Sergei Dolmatov...blame it on my Post Op pain meds.
I escaped before the Labor Day weekend to get a little solitude and renewal. Folks were out in abundance and the banjo’s were playing the twangy sounds. I wasn’t too concerned as I was lost in my reverie. I fished and caught my share. I enjoyed the pattern puzzle, the weather was perfect (not too hot; a mild, cool breeze that produced a riffled chop to the surface). Hatches were consistent and continuous offerings of damsels, dragons, midges and a few Callibaetis spinners. Also, there was a nice flurry of longhorn sedges.
First fish of the day to a Little Fort Leech.
For the most part, I excluded the current challenges in my life and was absorbed in the moment. The moment included certain segments of our society that need to assert their sphere of perceived influence via cussing, long kerplunking casts (heavy sinkers and spinners…seriously even I know how to rig a lighter slip sinker, treble hook and PBait) and dirty looks coupled with head shakes. I was so mellow, I didn’t get too uptight. I did not let anything get to me on the water. But, it is tempting…..
I ran the gamut of black, green, brown, mottled colored Woolly Buggers to start searching with, while I looked about for signs of insect life. In the end, it was black, black and black with a dash of red Buggers. Sunken caddis pupa patterns stripped to the top near the drop off produced some savage strikes (about that: when you do have those savage strikes…check your tippet! Somehow, I continued to fish on sans fly for several minutes in the midst of a perfect FF scenario…only when I decided to change flies, because of a lack of hits, did I notice the reason the hits had stopped…no fly!).
September & October loom: less crowds, steelhead marching toward Sherar’s Falls (Deschutes R.), lakes still inviting, October Caddis starting soon.
I left the house at 7pm intending to run an errand. I noticed a big, beautiful mayfly dun on my other car. I snapped a few pics and departed, figuring it would be gone when I returned. And, so it was, kind of. I returned to find the shuck in place of the dun. Now, I didn’t get a good enough look at the time to see what was totally going on when I originally left. So now, I gently secured the shuck with the intent of photographing it. I went to the front door and opened it and out jets Penelope the House Cat. Shoot it was 0845pm and almost dark. I chased after the cat and eventually removed her from beneath my rig. Hmmm….the shuck was destroyed in the pursuit of the cat! So much for my entomological studies…at least for tonight. What is very fascinating, for me, is that there is only the smallest little spring behind my house. So, was I watching a Dun prior to the emergence of a Spinner or…….
06
Aug
11
Fly Fishing: Bug Catcher
Common Garden/Cross Spider (Araneus diadematus) SwittersB
To me, there is nothing seemingly ‘common’ about this spider. It was a long ways from any garden as well. As I explored along the rocky shoreline of the Clackamas River, I came across this sizable spider working away on a web. A steady up river breeze ushered along hatches of assorted Caddis, PMD’s and midges. Remnants of a sizable Stonefly emergence littered the moss covered boulders. This busy spider prepared to intercept some portion of the shore bound insects. Once he was done, he tucked himself beneath some mossy growth attached to a boulder that supported his fly catcher. You are exactly right: the fishing was less than stellar on the Clack/Collawash R., so I passed off the time looking about the shoreline for this and that.
Cross Spider Hiding and Waiting for a trapped morsel (SwittersB)
Mt. Hood National Forest Proposes Decommissioning 255 miles of Collawash River Drainage Roads
Hot Summer days and the dusty shoreline and grass are buzzing with grass hoppers. This is a perfect beginner’s pattern where presentation may be more important than size, shape or color. Whether it is a Joe’s, Dave’s or some other buoyant hopper pattern, work it near the shoreline, close to the edge. Depending upon the size of the river, primarily focus within five feet or so on windy days. When it is hot and still, cast right in toward shore. If the waters allow you to safely wade in, then wade out a ways and cast in toward shore. If you are lucky enough to get an invite on a friend’s drift boat, then a hopper pattern will be a nice morsel to throw in off the grass and dirt banks. Hopper patterns are also, as you may have read in your studies, part of the touted Hopper/Dropper set up, providing an indicator/dry fly offering with a trailing subsurface pattern. Some people also fish two dries, say a Hopper and a Caddis pattern. I know an older gent, who years ago traveled the West, while working for the U.S. Forest Service, and primarily fished the Joe’s Hopper. There are newer Hopper patterns constructed of the new synthetics as well.
Joe's Hopper (Montana Riverboats)
