Floating flies for trout

Last month we talked about the four basic types of flies you need for your trout tool box if you want to have success on the water. They are nymphs, streamers, wet flies and dry flies, and we spent some time talking about the important role nymphs play in the diet of trout.

This month we will discuss flies that are important on the surface of the water. Termed dry flies, as we attempt to keep them dry enough to float, these flies are designed to imitate insects that have just hatched and are resting on the water surface, or adult flies that are returning to the water surface to lay their eggs.

To work well, a dry fly needs to float lightly on the water surface. To do this we select a light wire hook to reduce weight and combine it with materials that resist water and float well. The prime ingredient of many dry flies is good quality hackle, which improves their floatability. Body material that resists water also helps. We also use fly floatant to help repel water and aid in keeping the fly floating. If you are selecting one dry fly for Nova Scotia trout, I would recommend one that imitates the Mayfly.

Many anglers consider mayflies to be the most important trout stream insect. They belong to the order of insects called Ephemeoptera, from the Latin Ephemero, which means short lived, and ptera, meaning wings.

The mayfly life cycle consists of four stages, egg, nymph, dun and spinner. Eggs hatch into an underwater form called a nymph. Nymphs remain in this stage for about a year, and fishing nymphs that imitate this stage of the insect can be challenging in its own way. When the nymph is fully developed, it swims to the water surface and hatches into the winged mayfly known as a dun. The dun rests on the water surface for a short period of time drying its wings. This process is the hatch, which we anxiously wait for. The duns are very vulnerable to trout while on the surface and the right fly can bring exciting action. During this stage, resting mayflies resemble tiny sailboats on the surface.

Its wings dried, the mayfly flies to nearby trees or shoreline vegetation to rest for a period of a few hours to several days. Then it undergoes its final molt to the spinner stage. While duns are drab in colour – in shades of tan, grey, cream, green, black and brown – the spinner, in contrast, is bright and shiny with long tails and clear transparent wings. Mayfly spinners return to the water where they mate in the air, lay their eggs in the water and die. During this period, trout actively feed on these spinners and a well-fished imitation can be deadly.

Nova Scotia has many species of mayflies and it is unlikely that anglers will be able to match all of them. However, in every area there are one or two hatches that are well known to seasoned anglers. They have names like the Green Drake, Pale Morning Dun or Light Cahill, but one fly that is effective in imitating most of them, and which most anglers wouldn’t be caught on the water without, is the Adams. The Adams represents a wide range of mayflies and you should never be without a few in size #12-#18 in your fly box.

If you aren’t sure when mayflies are hatching on your lake, have a close look in the branches of lakeside trees before you fish. Spider webs will often trap whichever mayfly is hatching and will give you a clue on the size, colour and pattern of dry fly to use.