Introduction
The Word Hatch
The is the first article of a new series of posts on “matching the hatch”. The phrase “matching the hatch” is often used by fly anglers fishing for trout and sometimes for other species such as bass, pike, etc. During the last several years the phrase has even been used by anglers using conventional tackle fishing for many different species of fish. In those cases, the word hatch doesn’t necessarily mean the same as it does when it is used by fly angler.
When fly anglers are fishing for trout and other species of fish that feed on insects, the word “hatch” refers to the point an insect begins to crawl or accent to the surface of the water to change into its adult stage of life. Keep in mind, that is usually a short time ranging from a few hours to a few days depending on the species of the insect.
KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid
I will do my best to keep the articles on “matching the hatch”, as simple and understandable as possible. All aquatic entomology books use more technical explanations of hatching insects. To begin, they are classified as complete metamorphosis, which has four stages – egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Insects that go through three stages of change in their life cycle have an incomplete metamorphosis.
For example, mayflies undergo complete metamorphosis. Caddisflies undergo incomplete metamorphosis. Stoneflies undergo incomplete metamorphosis and midges undergo complete metamorphosis.
Mayflies go from an egg to a nymph, to a dun and to a spinner. Caddisflies go from an egg to a larva, to a pupa, to an adult. Stoneflies go from an egg to a nymph and to an adult. Midges go from an egg to a larva, to a pupa, and to an adult.
The Book “Matching the Hatch
The Word Matching
The book, “A Practical Guide to Imitation of Insects Found on Eastern and Western Waters” written by Ernest G. Schwiebert, pointed out the importance of using flies that match whatever insects are hatching at any time and place. The only problem I have with it is that it focused only on matching adult insects such as mayfly duns, stonefly, and caddisfly adults. It didn’t focus on the importance of matching the nymph or larva stages of life of the insect. Neither did it focus on the importance of matching the imago stage of life, which in the case of mayflies is the final stage of life that anglers call spinners. Most of the emphasis was focused on matching the subimago stage of life which in the case of mayflies is what anglers call the dun.
The word “matching” as used in the phrase “matching the hatch”, is intended to mean anglers should use flies that closely resemble the insects that are hatching at any time and place. One major problem with the book is the lack of pictures showing artificial flies that look like the real things. Out of the hundreds if not thousands of flies on the market at the time, few matched the real insects well. In fact, almost none of them matched the nymphs or larva stages of the insect’s life. In fact, except for Perfect Flies, that is still the case. Perfect Fly’s approach to matching the hatch includes matching the larva or nymphal stage of life as well as the adult insect.
To be continued in the next article.
Matching the Hatch is what Perfect Fly is all about. You can match what is going to hatch (nymphs and larvae, what is hatching (emerging and adult stages of life) and what has hatched and returned to the water to deposit eggs for future generations – the egg laying activity. In the case of mayflies, it would consist of matching the spinners. be continued in the next article.
The top picture is a Perfect Fly Light Cahill Dun. The lower picture is a real Light Cahill.
