Bugs around here?

[Hookup]

Well, as I read and learn more about fly-fishing, tying flies I've realized that there is at least one major gap in my knowledge.. ok, several, but lets stay focused on this one for now..

Bugs. Fish eat em, fly-tier's try to imitate them.. but some general information is required before I sit down at the bench, thread in hand.

some example questions that run thru my head....

Q. What bugs exist in the waters i'm trying to fish? (that fish eat)

Q.What is the lifecycle of the bug(s) mapped against the fishing season?

Q. If/when multilple species of bugs overlap, how would you know which ones the fish are feeding on?


How does a new fisher (me) learn about the bugs in my area? Where do you start? I fish on several different water systems, but we could use the Rideau River, at Long-Island Locks as the target area to discuss.

I'm not looking for a hand-out answer here, saying "for may-june just use this pattern for that area"... I'm looking to learn about the process of figuring this out so I can apply it to any system I fish on.

I recently saw a show on WFN where a guy used a turkey-baster thing to suck the contents out of the fishes stomach. He put it into a vial, and observed what was being eaten. Somewhat gross, definately cool, but I'm NOT qualified, in any way to start sticking things into fish... I'd be afraid to damage the fish...

The "brute force" method that comes to mind says "I can just go flip-over rocks, take photos of what I find, and go tie up some approximations..." This process obviously takes time. No problem, I plan on fishing the rest of my able-bodied life...

But is there a different way? Is there a better way? Does anyone do this, or do we just go with whatever patterns have worked for others in the past?

[MLR]

join these guys

http://www.ottawaflyfishers.com/

or stop by and visit this place

http://www.floatpaddleandfly.com/

[wongrs]

you want to find a "hatch chart". these are typically created by fly-fisher groups on a local body of water. the most famous rivers will have the most extensive hatch charts. for example, if you typed "bow river hatch chart" into google, you'd find multiple hits. if you tried that for the ottawa river, you'd get 0 hits. the ottawa fly fishers society might have one made up. i've seen others for rivers in ontario so if you can find one for ontario rivers, there's a good chance it will be similar to around here. same with northern new york. of course, nuances in species will differ from water body to water body.

there have been entomology sites posted in the past such as troutnut and westfly in the past which have good info on hatches. i suggest checking those out. there are dozens more that i could post if you are interested. i have some references by state in the US showing hatches for different inverts.

the other thing that you can do is buy a $3 aquarium net and kick over some rocks in the stream and scoop up the "dust" that comes up. it's easy to carry with you and it's something easy to do while you are taking a lunch or water break. i haven't done the throat pump thing yet.

as and for your question on what happens when hatches overlap, well that happens throughout the entire year. multiple species of inverts are always available to trout (stoneflies, caddis, mays, scuds, leeches etc). in my opinion if a fish is feeding it will discriminate too much as long as your imitation looks real (fly and presentation).

my 2 cents.

[Todd B.]

Hookup,

If you're lucky enough to catch a fish, the most reliable method is to pump the stomach and examine the contents, though as you said this is a skill that needs to be mastered so that you don't harm the fish. This is especially useful when you have multiple hatches occuring.

Hatch charts will give you a general idea as to the general dates for various hatches, though there is variation between bodies of water in terms of the dates and whether a particular insect is even present.

Flipping a few stones is always a good, and will give you an idea as to what nymphs are present and their respective sizes. The same goes if you can see a hatch occuring.
Troutnut.com is a great online "bug" resource.

With respect to local waters, the following are what I would consider to be the primary hatches:

• Ottawa River
• spotted sedge (large caddis fly)
• stoneflies
• Hexes
• Polymitarcyidae (White May Fly)
  
  Note: There are also some hatches of smaller mayflies (Hendricksons, etc)
  
  Rideau River
• Little Black Caddis Flies
• Hexes
• BWOs
• Isonichyia

Note: On the Ottawa and Rideau I personally do not typically fish insect patterns unless the fish are rising to a hatch.

[Hookup]

That is fantastic information... thank you guys!

Todd, the hatches you list are excellent, thanks very much... again, not looking for a hand-out, but how do you map the hatches to to the season.. i.e. what's hatching in may, june,... etc...

Do you do this simply thru observation? I figure there must be some rules of thumb, like black-flies are killer in may till the temps kill them off... etc...

I'll definitely be researching instead of working now... lol.

[Hookup]

Hookup,

Note: On the Ottawa and Rideau I personally do not typically fish insect patterns unless the fish are rising to a hatch.

I tend to think that for species such as bass and pike, they are just as likely to bite when going for an aggression hit vs a feeding response, so I realize that "matching the hatch" is not as important when fishing these species... And given those would be the main species fished in the Ottawa & Rideau it's likely less important to be worried about the above...

That being said, it seems like a good place to learn these techniques cause it is local and easy to access.

I think I'm motivated to learn about this process simply as a part of increasing my own knowledge of what i'm fishing for. I do quite a bit of bow-hunting for whitetail, and I get the biggest thrill when I can use all my knowledge and experience to put me on deer consistently... I think the same would apply if I can look around and say.. this is happening right now in this body of water then start to catch fish using that knowledge... admittedly not the same scenario, but I like to learn and this gives me an opportunity to throw something other than a woolly bugger..

[Todd B.]

Hookup,

Here are a number of links to hatch charts. Keep in mind that unless the hatch chart is for a particular river, it should be considered as a broad guide, indicating the approximate emergence schedule, sizes, etc. Note that timing, sizes and even existance of of hatches is dynamic and varies from river to river. The hatch charts will give you a ballpark idea of what to expect, from which you subsequently make adjustments once you're on the water.

http://mrffs.com/atlanticsalmonhatch.html

Michigan Hatch Charts
http://www.flymartonline.com/article159.html
http://www.trailstotrout.com/mihatch.html
http://www.flyfishingcommunity.com/mvc/ ... _b=hatches

NY Hatch Chart
http://www.tcoflyfishing.com/1TCO_Hungr ... _Chart.cfm

[Todd B.]

While I know of a few anglers that will actively nymph on the Ottawa, my preference is to keep to the crayfish, buggers and baitfish patterns until there is a noticable hatch that the fish are feeding on. This is when I will start casting emergers and dries, whether they're attractor patterns or specific insect patterns.

[wongrs]

just came across this for lakes:
http://www.thechronicflyfisher.com/TROUTFOOD.HTML

[steve2112]

Hey Guys

Another trick is to fish flies that could pass for several of the hatching insects.

For instance - Yellow stimulators match both stone flies and large caddis.

Hoppers and chernobyle ants also work well with stonefly hatches.

After spending thousands of hours fishing out west, I have realized that casting to rising fish is not as productive as one would think. Actively rising trout are feeding very selectively and often will turn down anything but the exact imitation. I have been blinded by caddis on the bow river and not been able to correctly match the size and have struck out.

Cheers,
steve