Troutnut Forum > Fly Hatch Talk > Sulphur Spinner Eggs?
This topic is about the Insect Order Ephemeroptera
Mayflies may be the most important insects for trout anglers to understand. They are famous outside the fly fishing world for their fragile beauty and short adult lifespan, usually a single day to mate and die. The mayfly's poignant drama attracts poets and fishermen alike, but fishermen make the most of it. Read more...
There are 512 more specimens...
The Discussion
| CaseyP | May 17th, 2007, 11:03 pm | |
| Arlington, VA/ Mercersburg, PA Posts: 254 | amazing sulphur hatch this evening on our favorite wee stream in PA, all just as you describe. thanks for the bug lessons this winter. a question: about half the spinners over the riffle had a little round yellow mass at the base of the tail. would that have been the eggs? a fly note--had only parachute dries, no real spinner pattern, and so mushed down the 'chute to make it more wing-like. this made the fly ride crooked. suddenly the fish were more interested. | |
| "You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra | ||
|
These advertisements will disappear if you register. | ||
| Troutnut | May 17th, 2007, 11:10 pm | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1115 | Way to improvise. :) The yellow balls were definitely the eggs. | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
| Martinlf | May 18th, 2007, 6:49 pm | |
| Palmyra PA Posts: 905 | Casey, my experience is that a parachute can make a very effective spinner pattern, especially for dusk spinner falls, when I like a prominent white post for visibility. I do tie a few with very short posts, and you could even cut the post off if you think it is spooking fish, but most of my spinner parachutes have very visible wing posts. You can also cut a section of the hackle off at the front and (though I do this more rarely) at the back so the hackle looks more like spent wings. I use oversize hackle, and based on Rene Harrop's design for this fly often favor grizzly, though I'm sure dun is also a good choice. | |
| Louis Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? A trout! that is more sharp-sighted than any hawk . . . and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold! --Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler | ||
| CaseyP | May 19th, 2007, 12:32 am | |
| Arlington, VA/ Mercersburg, PA Posts: 254 | today on the Little Juniata, we saw a sulphur hatch for the books--a very good thing they don't bite. the spent bugs and others in trouble on the water had very prominent wings, nothing like the flopped down ones on my (ineffective) standard pattern. thanks for the advice, Martin. it's going to be parachutes all the way, a pair of sissors in my vest, and lopsided jury-rigged spinners next outing. Jason--another question: in Mercersburg the spinners were butter colored, while on the Little J they were brownish, like butter in a saute pan. is this a species difference, or just local preference, like Pennsylvania liquor laws? two ridges away, and our flies just didn't match... | |
| "You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra | ||
| Troutnut | May 19th, 2007, 12:39 am | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1115 | Could be either. Ephemerella invaria is (ironically, given the name) an extremely variable species. Their spinners are mostly rusty brown but butter colored isn't out of the question at all. | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
| Martinlf | May 19th, 2007, 8:36 am | |
| Palmyra PA Posts: 905 | Casey, on Thursday a size 16 butter yellow biot bodied parachute with a white post, dun hackle, and a wood duck and antron shuck caught several nice fish on the Little J. I also used a size 14 emerger that had for the lower half of the body a brown biot, then the upper half a pale yellow biot, split cut wings and thorax hackle on a scud hook. The body was epoxied for strength, and I believe it had a bit of zelon shuck too. It worked as well. I switched to a size 14 tan parachute with oversize hackle and a white post to catch several others at dusk. There were a lot of bugs on the water. The key was an absolutely drag free drift, as usual. What kind of car do you drive, and will you be back up on the Little J soon? I'll look for you. Tight lines (once you connect, that is) and good luck!! | |
| Louis Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? A trout! that is more sharp-sighted than any hawk . . . and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold! --Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler | ||
| GONZO | May 19th, 2007, 2:35 pm | |
| "Bear Swamp," PA Posts: 876 | Casey, Just as a general suggestion, a simple Synthetic Compara-dun tied with a pale gray wing and a yellow, yellow-brown, or even orange body can often do multiple duty for invaria hatches and spinner falls, imitating emergers or duns and upwing or spentwing spinners. The Synthetic Compara-dun presents all of these images at once and allows the fish to see what it needs to see. It often works on all but the fussiest fish. This single-fly strategy works a little better with light-winged species than it does with dark-winged varieties, but I've had it work for them as well. (Just to cover all bases, you could trail a sulphur nymph off the back in the early part of the hatch. This will take some of the fish that refuse the floater.) | |
| CaseyP | May 19th, 2007, 3:14 pm | |
| Arlington, VA/ Mercersburg, PA Posts: 254 | thanks a lot for the suggestions. really appreciate the focus. last year i had great luck with a pink parachute yellow sulphur which with the appropriate tweaks you have suggested should make a difference. my whine reminds me of another plaintive bleat heard on this forum early in the season, when one of our number, having done EVERYTHING right, failed to connect. my context is the trifecta the day before: a brown, a brookie, and a 19 inch rainbow all fell for my squashed fly in a span of about 20 minutes in a pool you could bridge with your dining room table 15 minutes from home. when a minimum of effort is rewarded this way, and is followed by a day featuring a long drive to a famous body of water, a careful filling of fly box with every iteration of the hatch, and casting until one's arm is sore in the midst of an amazing show of nature's fecundity, all for one 10 inch brownie of no particular beauty, then one's universe gets tilted. thank you for setting it upright once more! | |
| "You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra | ||
| Martinlf | May 20th, 2007, 1:12 pm | |
| Palmyra PA Posts: 905 | Casey, recently I've had more long drives leading to less than spectacular results this season than last, and perhaps, than any previous season. Drawing on the wisdom of several folks who post here, I've worked hard to stay open to the "total experience," as you called it in another thread. To some degree it's worked, and, counting my blessings, I also find this season enriched with a number of new fishing buddies on this forum; Gonzo's flies, which have given new options and ideas about tying; better tippets (I think); and some new and stronger knots. I feel pretty lucky about these things. | |
| Louis Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? A trout! that is more sharp-sighted than any hawk . . . and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold! --Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler | ||
New features!
