Favorite Flies for Trout Fishing
Aquatic insects are the favorite and indispensable food of trout
. There are three groups of flies that are considered as most common and are imitated as lures to be used by angler in trout fishing. These common flies are mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies. Here are some highlights on these flies which may increase your understanding about fly baits and lures.
Mayflies (Insect Order Ephemeroptera)
This is the very first important fly to know about. They are well known out of the fishing world due to their delicate beauty and their short adult lifespan which only lasts for a single day to mate and then it dies.
Mayflies lives underwater at the bottom of the river as nymphs. This nymph stage last for 3 months to 2 year which depends on its species. The whole generation of mature nymphs emerges from the stream and turn to adults which survive in matters of a few weeks. The adult mayflies can be divided into duns, which are the immature winged adult stage for about 1 2 days which will eventually develop as spinners, which is the mature adult stage.
These duns are floating on the surface and are the prime target of trout. The spinners gather in groups above the river to mate and then die or laying flat in the water with their spread wings. This is also a delicious meal for the trout.
By studying the natural behavior of a mayfly's life cycle, an angler may take advantage in how to imitate spinners' behaviors; their appearance, shape, position, movements and the way it drifts following the stream.
Caddisflies (Insect order Trichoptera)
Knowledge about caddisflies is as much valuable to the anglers. The specific behavior of the pupa, caddisfly's underwater stage of life, which is drifting along the bottom of the river prior to emergence is a basic idea for imitation. The "deep sparkle pupa" pattern is a perfect imitation introduced by Gary Lafontaine which has become the most popular imitation based on this specific behavior.
The pupae emerge to the surface in several ways. Many species rise straightly to the surface and take a quick flight as soon as they are out of the water. Some has to struggle and float for a long distance while wiggling free from its skin. Some other pupae crawl out of the water to find rocks or sticks where they emerge high and dry.
Adult caddisflies have a longer lifespan compared to the mayflies. Unlike the mayflies, they have the ability to drink, hence it could avoid dehydration. This stage last about several days to a few months.
The vulnerability of this insect to be the trout prime target is due to its behavioral drift. This is the behavior of the nymphs and larvae (of most aquatic insect) to release its grip from the bottom and get drift downstream, a situation which favors the trout.
Stoneflies (Insect Order Plecoptera)
Stoneflies are the biggest among the three types of stream aquatic insects. But they are less important to the contribution of bait imitation. The only significant imitation is the nymph.
Their unimportance is due their style of emerging. All stoneflies nymphs without any exception are crawling out of the water to find rocks, sticks or anything along the shoreline which will keep them free from the trout. The adult stonefly may have a lifespan of up to one month. Like the caddisfly, a stonefly can drink, hence it is quite resistance to dehydration.
A weakness of the stonefly is that it is a poor swimmer. If it happens that a stonefly slips into the drifts (by accident or behavioral), it becomes a prime target of the trout.
Favorite Flies for Trout Fishing
By: Uno Birawan
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