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Posts by Heather Hodson:

December 27 2022

Intro to Entomology

Blog, Education, Entomology, Trout Match the Hatch

Fly Fish Instruct wants to help you take your fly fishing to the next level. One way to increase your catching ratio is to understand basic fly fishing entomology (the study of insects) and how you can choose the correct fly to match the hatch.

At a minimum, it’s essential for an angler to know and be able to identify the four most important aquatic insect groups (orders) and their stages in and off the water. The bonus is to know when the most common genus are hatching and the behaviors of each stage.

Blog Review

Refer back to our previous blogs.

Learn more about in our “Match the Hatch” online course.

Insect Orders

We commonly refer to order as a specific group of aquatic insects. Most artificial flies are designed to imitate a particular order in a specific stage. To keep things simple, we will reference the commonly known names of an order, such as Caddis and Mayflies.

Most Common Trout Fly Orders:

- Caddis (Trichoptera order)
- Mafly (Ephemeroptera order)
- Midge (Diptera order)
- Stonefly (Plecoptera order)

Metamorphosis

Each aquatic insect group (order) goes through different stages of development throughout their lives. These stages are also known as metamorphosis, which means change. Each order will go through either complete or incomplete metamorphosis. As an angler, understanding these stages or transitions is essential. Most anglers use a basic understanding of these stages to fish by mimicking behavior. Often, these stages are referred to as nymphs/larvae, emergers, and dry flies.

Incomplete Metamorphosis (Mayflies and Stoneflies) –

3 Stages – Egg, Nymph, and Adult (Imago) Stages.

Complete Metamorphosis (Caddis and Midges) –

4 Stages – Egg, Larva, Pupa and Adult (Imago)
- Exactly like a butterfly.

Insect Stages

Larva are juvenile insects that often look worm-like.
- Complete Metamorphosis
- Fish flies in the lower part of the water column.

Larvae are also referred to as nymphs. “Nymphing” refers to the fishing technique of an artificial fly subsurface (under the water).

Nymphal Stage –
- Incomplete Metamorphosis
- Life begins when the immature nymph escapes its egg and starts to feed. The nymph will shed its exoskeleton in a process called molting. The nymphal period can vary from a few months to several years.
- Fish flies in the lower part of the water column.

Pupa –
- Complete Metamorphosis
- Life stage begins when the mature larva transforms into a pupa. The larva spins some sort of cocoon or case and enters the pupa stage.
Emergers are the stage where the nymphs or larvae rise to the surface in preparation to emerge into their adult (dry fly) form.
- Fish wet emergers in the mid-water column and dry emergers just below the surface.
Adults are the final life stage of the insect.
- Fish most dry flies on top of the water.
Spinners are the dead insects that fall to the water’s surface.
- Not all insects have a spinner stage.
  - Midges, for example, don’t have a separate spinner fly pattern.
- Fish spinners on top of the water.

Immature Characteristics

A subsurface artificial fly mimics any stage of an immature aquatic insect.

Caddis and Midges
- Aquatic Larva “worm-like”.
- Caddis are either cased or free living larva.
Mayflies and Stoneflies
- Classic insect shape with a distinct abdomen, thorax, and head segments.
- Mayflies have two or three tails.
- Stoneflies always have two tails. The gills on mayflies are on their abdomens and stoneflies have thoracic gills.

Adult Characteristics

A dry fly is the adult stage of an insect. All adult aquatic insects have the same shape but will vary in size and color.

Mayflies (order Ephemeroptera) have upright “sailboat” wings.
Caddis (order Trichoptera) have a “tent-shaped” wing.
Stoneflies (order Plecoptera) have wings that lie flat over their backs. Think of longboard.
Midges (order Diptera) as their order name suggests have only two wings (Di = 2; -ptera = wing).

Life Cycle Factors

There are several life cycle factors.

Time of Year
- Certain aquatic insects hatch annually during the same time of the year. Start to become familiar with hatch charts to know what genus hatches when.
Time of Day
- Water temperatures usually rise during the day. Many aquatic insects hatch at the same time of the day during a specific time throughout the year.
Water Temperatures
- Aquatic insects have different hatching water temperatures. Having a thermometer will you start to predict when the adult life cycle stage will happen.
Available Food
- Aquatic insects have the same 4 basic needs as fish.
  - Food, Protection from Predators, Shelter from Current and Oxygen.
- Insects need available food to survive.

Conclusion

You can familiarize yourself with the stages and individual characteristics of the four most important aquatic insect groups (0rders) Caddis, Mayflies, Midges, and Stoneflies. This will help lessen the stress of matching the hatch and being a more successful angler.

Connect Heather Hodson

Website-Featured-Image-5-Factors-To-Choose-A-Fly

December 27 2022

5 Factors When Choosing a Fly

Blog, Education, Entomology, Trout Match the Hatch

By: Heather Hodson

As a nurse, I start the day by walking into my patient’s room and assessing my patient’s status and surroundings. Is the patient awake, alert, and oriented? Do I have all the equipment in the room if something happens? This is the same with fly fishing. Look around, and assess the river. Are there any bugs flying around, are the fish feeding on these bugs? What are the fish feeding behaviors?

In previous blogs, we’ve covered the different fly types and the four types of fly categories. This blog will cover the 5 factors when choosing a fly. Take a breath because you don’t need to know the insect’s order, genus, species, or even common name to be able to choose a fly. The two most important factors are the size and silhouette of the insect.

Learn more about it in our “Match the Hatch” online course.

5 Factors When Choosing a Fly

The first rule of choosing a fly is that there are no rules. Choosing a fly is not an exact science and there will be days that some flies fish better for no apparent reason. Whenever possible you should try to determine what the fish are feeding on and choose your fly that most closely mimics the natural food. Fly selection can be broken down into 5 different factors.

Size
Shape/Profile
Color
Behavior
Habitat

Disclaimer: Many intermediate and advanced anglers would argue that behavior is more important than color.

#1 - Size

Size refers to the length of the fly. It is the number one factor when choosing a trout fly. It’s best to err on the side of smaller.

Choose a similar size (or smaller) fly to a natural insect or aquatic baitfish of what you’ve assessed.
Assessment
- Pick up rocks in the river. What size are the nymphs crawling around or attached to these rocks?
- Seine the riverbed to see what insects and aquatic baitfish are in that specific section of the river.
- Catch adult insects flying around.
- Put the insects in your fly box and match the size to your flies.
It’s important to learn the general sizes of insects.
- Caddis Size #4 – #20
- Mayflies Size #4 – #24
- Stonefly Size #2 – #16
- Midge Size #16 – #28

#2 - Shape/Profile

You’ve assessed the insect or baitfish size; now, what profile/shape or silhouette of the fly to choose? Shape/Profile plays a large role with surface flies.

Assessment –

What shape is the insect you observe in the air or the water?
What type of wings does it have? How many legs or tails?
Choose a fly that matches the shape you are mimicking.
What order (caddis, mayfly, midge, stonefly) are you matching? This is where entomology will come into play.
Adult Shapes –
- All adult aquatic insects have the same shape but will vary in size and color.
  - Caddis – Tent
  - Mayfly – Sailboat
  - Stonefly – Long Board

Immature Shapes –
- Look at the Profile of the subsurface insect or aquatic prey.
- Try to match the same body profile.

#3 - Color

If matching and using an imitative fly, choose a similar natural color. Try matching your fly with the color of the habitat.

It’s essential to recognize that the color of your fly in the water is almost always different from what it is in the air.
Look at the color of the natural insect in the water attached to a rock and match that color.
From my personal experience that many times matching the color of the hatch has helped lead to a successful evening of fishing.
- For example, during a Pale Evening Dun (PED) hatch I’ve caught more fish with a size #16 yellow parachute than a size #16 gray parachute Adams.

#4 - Behavior

Consider both insect behavior and fish-feeding behavior when choosing a fly. This is when it’s time to observe.

Insect Behavior –

Observe adult and immature insects.
How are the insects flying around in the air or landing on the water?
- Soft, smooth, skittering, dipping, diving, frantic, falling from vegetation?
How are the insects moving subsurface?
- Swimmers, clingers, divers, crawlers?
Try changing your retrieves and drifts before changing your fly. The movement of the fly can play a huge role in being more successful in catching fish.
The way the fly moves within the water column is how you should fish your fly.

Fish-Feeding Behavior –

When trout are actively feeding, they give us clues about their rise.

Noses/Dimples = Small Insects Such as Midges and Mayflies or Spinners
Splashes with Bubbles = Caddis, Large Mayflies and Terrestrials
Splashes without Bubbles = Wet and Dry Emergers (Emerging Caddis Pupa or Mayfly Nymph)
Tail/Fins = Nymphs or Wet Emergers
Bulges in Current with Quick Flash – Aquatic Prey

Habitat

The kind of water in which an insect lives predicts where you will fish its imitation.

Fast vs. Slow Water

Fish searching/attractor patterns in riffles and faster water.
Fish impressionistic/imitators in smooth and soft water.
It is often necessary to consider a pattern style that offers a more exact silhouette of the natural insect.

Pattern Selection

Pick your pattern based on the size of the insect, then vary the color to match precisely what’s happening.
Also consider the impression the imitation makes on the surface film or the movement in the water.

December 25 2022

Fly Category Types

Blog, Education, Entomology, Trout Match the Hatch

We’ve covered the different fly types; now let’s discuss the four fly category types. Fly categories are not an exact science, like classifying an aquatic insect, but they are an excellent reference for choosing the correct fly to be a successful angler.

All these topics and more are covered in the “Match the Hatch” online course.

4 Fly Category Types

Searching Patterns
Impressionistic Patterns
Imitative Patterns
Attractor Patterns

Searching Patterns

A searching pattern is used first when you’re unsure what is hatching or what fly to use. These flies are not meant to look like anything in particular; they can imitate various insects. These are used when searching for what size, color, or profile of the fly the fish are looking for.

You might spend an entire day being successful with a searching pattern, or it might help narrow down to a different category.

Many searching patterns can also pass as a specific insect order. (i.e., Caddis, Mayfly, Stonefly, Midge)
Start to observe where you are catching fish with these patterns?
- In the Riffles, Runs, Pools, Tailouts, etc.
  - This will help you identify which stage of insects the fish are feeding on.
What is the feeding behavior of the fish? How are they eating the fly?
- Drag Free Drift, Twitch, Swing, or on the Final Lift.

Impressionistic Patterns

Anglers often start with an impressionistic pattern if they know what is hatching. This is the next logical step after fishing a searching pattern. How do you know what is hatching? Get to know and learn the hatches. Read our “Hatch Chart” blog.

These patterns can pass as different orders (mayflies, caddis, stoneflies, or midges) or genus (BWO, PMDs, Golden Stones) in multiple stages before you narrow down the specific species and stage to mimic an imitative pattern.
Once you’ve narrowed down the 5 factors of choosing a fly (size, profile, color, behavior, and habitat), you can switch to an impressionistic pattern.
- Example – Switch from a green parachute to a Flavilinea Dun pattern.
Usually, defined profiles and natural colors.
Impressionistic fly patterns are best used in faster-moving water. Faster water means less time for a trout to analyze the fly and make a quick decision.

Imitative Patterns

An imitative pattern mimics a specific species and stage.

Should be fished as a single stage.
Once you have figured out the imitative pattern, you’ll catch far more fish!
Size, profile, and color all mimic a specific genus and stage.

Attractive Patterns

The attractor pattern mimics nothing but attracts the many. This fly has been designed to attract the curious, sometimes less educated, fish.

Flashier, bright colors, legs, sparkle, and synthetic fibers.
Weak to no resemblance of a type of insect hatching or baitfish.
Use if you do not succeed with a searching, impressionistic or imitative pattern.
Use when there are no apparent insect hatches or trout eats.
Can be successful during a prolific hatch when you can’t match the fly. Color outside the lines by fishing with something big, loud, and obnoxious.

Conclusion

Knowing the 4 Fly Categories is an excellent reference for choosing the correct fly to be a successful angler. Start with a searching pattern and move to an impressionistic and imitative one if needed. Don’t forget to color outside the lines by fishing with a big, loud, and obnoxious attractor fly. Happy Fishing!

December 25 2022

Classification of Aquatic Insects

Blog, Education, Entomology, Trout Classification of Aquatic Insects, Match the Hatch

By: Heather Hodson and Megan Hess

Fly fishing allows us to get as nerdy as we’d like with almost every aspect of the sport. For some, it’s just a time to get outside and feel the effects of nature. For others, it’s about narrowing down an aquatic insect’s specific species and stage to fish the exact imitative fly pattern.

In the “Match the Hatch” Fly Fish Instruct online course, we want to appease all nerdiness scale spectrums. Let’s dive deeper into how aquatic insects are scientifically classified and what that means to us as anglers.

Disclaimer – We use common names for a similar group of aquatic insects. Example: When we say Blue Wing Olive, we are referring to the genus Baetis which encompasses more than 150+ mayfly species.

Classifications of Living Things

Scientists classify living things based on their shared traits. In addition to identifying each different kind of organism, classification can help us understand how living things are related. Scientists start at the most broad group (kingdom) and end at the smallest group (species).

Classification Types:

Domain
- Kingdom
  - Phylum
    - Class
      - Order
        
        Family
        
        Genus
        
        Speciesbro

Same Domain, Kingdom, Phylum and Class

All aquatic insects are classified the same until order.

Domain – (Eukaryote)
Kingdom – (Animalia)
Phylum – (Arthropoda) Have Exoskeleton
Class – (Insecta) Adults Have 6 Jointed Legs

Order

The order is another way to break down the Insecta class further. Think of it as “refining your search” for a specific type of aquatic insect.

Most Common Trout Fly Orders:

Diptera – Flies (Midge)
Ephemeroptera – Mayfly
Plecoptera – Stonefly
Trichoptera – Caddis

Family

The next level in the classification of living organisms is much like the people we call family. We are all different, but we share enough similarities that we belong to the same family; the same applies to all living things. Tip! You can identify an aquatic insect’s scientific family name because it will always end in “dae”. The family is usually some variation of the “genus name” + “dae”.

Examples of Aquatic Insect Families –

Baetidae – Small Mayflies
Chironomidae – Midge
Pteronarcyidae – Large Stoneflies or “Salmonflies”
Rhyacophilidae – Free Living Caddis

Genus

The genus is the first part of a living thing’s scientific name, known as binomial nomenclature.

Examples of Common Genus –

Baetis – Blue Wing Olive
Rhyacophila – Green Sedge Caddis
Pteronarcella – Salmonfly
Chironomus – Bloodworm – Red Larva Midge

Species

The species is the final and most specific level of the classification system. There are usually several to hundreds of different species for each genus. Unless you are super nerdy into insects, hardly ever do anglers refer to the individual species of an insect because it is usually too hard to identify to that level while out fishing and not under a microscope. Sometimes the difference between a species is the number of hairs on their forearm! As anglers, often we refer to the insect’s common name that encompasses the genus that they are within.

Number of Species For Each Genus –

Blue Wing Olive – 150+ Species
Green Sedge Caddis – 125+ Species
Salmonfly – 2+ Species
Bloodworm – Red Larva Midge – 90+ Species

Conclusion

It’s not necessary to know the scientific species of an aquatic insect, but it’s helpful to be able to identify the order and genus. Start with a quick research of these specifics, and you’ll be a step ahead in choosing the right fly to match the hatch. Happy Fishing.

November 14 2022

Hatch Charts

Blog, Education, Trout

By: Heather Hodson

Learning hatch charts and researching the local fishing reports are a couple of quick ways to do the work to become a more successful angler.

Presentation and fishing techniques play a significant role in catching fish. Whether your fly is pink and bedazzled or has all-natural materials, ANGLER CONFIDENCE plays a huge role! In most instances, if you have confidence in your fly, you’ve made a cast in the correct location with a good drift; you’ll be successful.

If you’re reading this blog, you’re at a point where it’s time to dive deeper into your flies and entomology. One of the most intimidating parts of the sport is choosing the right fly. We still recommend learning how to read water, set up a leader, and understand how to fish the fly before you focus on the bugs.

review time

Let’s review the Trout Fly Types. Read Blog HERE.

Dry Fly = Adult Stage of Bug
Emerger = Mature Stage of Adult Insects
Wet Fly = Imitates Drowned, Drifting or Hatching Insect
Nymph = Immature Stage of Bug
Streamer = Mimics Bait Fish and Other Large Aquatic Prey.

Learn the Hatch Charts

You can start familiarizing yourself with hatch charts to learn what insects will be hatching at certain times of the year. Several websites have Hatch Charts for rivers and lakes around the world. Do a quick internet search for Hatch Charts in a specific area. You’ll start to see a theme that many insects hatch during the same time of year in similar regions and climates. As you become familiar with the different hatches, there’ll be less research.

Check Out the Fishing Reports

The first action plan should be to research the river or area you want to fish. Check out the local fly shop “Fishing Report,” or better yet, go into the shop and talk to the staff directly and purchase some of the recommended flies. The relationships you develop with the shop could be priceless.

Extra points for the fly shops that have women represented on their website! Kudos, Silver Bow Fly Shop!!

Google the Fles You're not Familar With

Research the fly names you’re unfamiliar with. I could probably only tell you the names of about 25% of the flies in my fly box. Fly names are an artistic expression given by the creator. Most of the time, the name has nothing to do with what type of fly it is. I’d guess a Purple Haze is a Jimi Hendrix song or a potent strain of Sativa cannabis. I’d never think it’s an attractor fly or used as an adult mayfly searching pattern.

The Grizzly Hackle Fishing Report states that Skinny Chubby is fishing well. I’d do a quick internet search for the Skinny Chubby, look at the flies in my fly box and see if I have anything similar. Please take a look at the example below.

Conclusion

Like anything, we must do some work to better educate ourselves on a particular subject. Learning hatch charts and researching the local fishing reports are quick ways to do the job. Happy Fishing!!

November 13 2022

Intro to Types of Trout Flies

Blog, Education, Trout

By: Heather Hodson

As a new or intermediate fly angler, one of the most intimidating parts of the sport is choosing the right fly. Sometimes the perfect, most unique fly is the ticket. You can also fool a fish by tying on a pink attractor pattern and fishing it confidently.

Learning how to read water, set up your leader, and fish, the fly, is more important than choosing the correct fly. This is why the Fly Fishing 1o1 online course has less emphasis on entomology and more time spent on the subjects mentioned above.

The bugs will come. When I first started to learn how to fly fish, I had several mentors suggest different hatch textbooks. I opened the first page and felt utterly overwhelmed. The books stayed closed on my bookshelf for two years until I had enough knowledge to open them back up. SUGGESTION – Get something with pictures!

We discuss and go into great detail about the fly types, fly examples, leader set-up for each fly type, and how to fish every kind of fly in our Online Recorded Courses. You learn anywhere at any time. Register HERE.

Fly Fishing takes patience and an incredible amount of time on the water to understand the many components. You’re not going to learn it all at once. Even those who have been fishing for a lifetime are still learning. This is not a fad diet; it’s a lifestyle. Enjoy the journey.

Entomology is defined as the study of insects. At its most basic level, fly fishing entomology understands the category of insects and what stage of life the bug is in. Understanding the hatch comes with experience, observation, and most importantly, time on the water.

What is a Fly?

Fishing flies are artificial bait designed to imitate insects at different stages of their lives, aquatic baitfish, small animals, invertebrates, crustaceans, and other fish food.

Fly Types

To choose the correct fly, you must understand the different fly types. The difference between not catching fish and tight lines is understanding the different fly types and when to use them.

Dry Fly
- Float
- Mature Stage of Adult insects
Terrestrials
- Float
- Land Dwelling
- Grasshoppers, Critics, Beetles, Ants, Etc.
Emerger
- Above and Below the Water
- Float
- Mature Stage of Adult Insects
Wet Fly
- Sink
- Fishes Just Below the Surface
- Imitate Drowned, Drifting, or Hatching Insect
Nymph
- Sink
- Any Immature Stage of Aquatic Insects
Streamer
- Sinks
- Mimics Bait Fish or Other Large Aquatic Prey

October 6 2022

Wading Boot Stud and Cleat Types and Uses

Blog, Education, Equipment

By: Heather Hodson

The type of rock that you are wading through dictates the type of studs you choose to put into your rubber or felt soled wading boots. Putting a combination of studs and cleats composed of different materials will give you the best amount of traction.

Let’s start with “soft rocks” and “hard rocks”. In simple terms, hard rock scratches glass and steel, soft rock does not scratch steel but will scratch fingernails.

Hard and Soft Rock Examples

Soft Rocks
- Limestone, Sandstone, Shale, Coal, Slate and Silstone
Hard Rocks
- Marble, Granite, Basalt, Quartzite

Type of Studs and Cleats

Simms HardBite Boot Studs – Best with soft rocks. Traditional screw-type studs with bits of carbide on the head.
Patagonia Aluminum Bars – Best with hard rocks. Aluminum is softer than carbide and conforms to micro surfaces of rocks producing excellent grip. Less than idea with a sheet ice, slate or shale.
Simms HardBite Star Cleats– Best with soft rocks. Bigger carbide cleats with more surface area, shaped to fit between the lugs on your StreadTread boots.
Simms AlumiBite Cleats – Best with hard rocks. Aluminum star shaped cleats covering more surface area for maximum grip.
Patagonia Steel Studs – Best for soft rocks. Each stud has a six-head bite tip with locking teeth for supplemental
Orvis Posigrip Screw in Studs – Best for soft rocks. Sharp tip allows for quick and easy installation into felt or rubber outsoles.

Summary

Aluminum Cleats are best for hard rocks and hardbite and steel materials are best for soft rocks. If you do a combination of both then your traction will greatly improve.