Heath has been a friend of mine long before I found fly fishing, and although I’m kind of flighty and do not see my friends often Heath has always been a good resource for information. I like that he has his own philosophy, something I strive to develop on my own and although some (and sometimes myself) don’t care for his opinions or thoughts he is true to his beliefs and I want to acknowledge one of my mentors. Heath was there for me when I needed information, materials for fly tying, or an ear just to bounce ideas off of. This type of person is very important for anyone trying to learn anything new, I hope I can do the same for someone someday. He has recently completed a research project encompassing the Human Dimensions of Angling in New Zeland. Find Heath and more information on his research, philosophy, photography and ideas at Shershen Bros. 

In an effort to prepare myself both mentally and physically for the winter season that I have geared myself up for, I took the dog out for a while to see how my gear was suited for the cold. I dawned thermals, pants, an extra long sleeve shirt, pants, insulated hip waders, wool socks, coat, hat and gloves. I realize this experience will differ from actual fishing in that I wasn’t too near water, I didn’t get my hands wet and I was moving quite a bit. I was pleased to find that I was not cold even after more than an hour and it was under 20 degrees out and the wind was blowing hard near the river, conditions will differ when I go fishing. I would have gone out for much longer but I had the dog and her leg was getting cold, you know the steel plate doesn’t come with its own heater but she did very well, even kicked up two deer. This is one of those, I wish this had more to do with fly fishing posts but I’m certainly thinking about it. 

Finished work today and took another quick run to a stream almost in town. I did essentially the same routine as yesterday but yesterday being my first time taking samples today I found it easier to find what I was looking for. 

Things I found interesting:

-The curious amount of both Scuds and the Cased Caddis found in the picture above on the rock next to the mason jar. 

-The amount of another insect that I haven’t seen in a stream before, rather I used to see these in basements and under rocks outside. I’m curious if these were around due to the amount of decaying leaves in the water.  I compared them to scuds I found but they really are different. 

Answer: Sowbug – Research, Learn, Fish Smarter. 

- I found more stonefly and Baetis nymphs today as well as Trico’s I think… Am I correct in thinking these two below are two types of Baetis? Same shape, size, tail, gills just a different color. 

I’m still working on the best way for me to take better images with what I have at hand. I do want to learn about this, I just would rather save for a new rod or something along those lines. So, thats another afternoon tromping in the water. I found so many scuds it was crazy 10-1 for sure. I just had to state that again, I was surprised.

Liz and I were out and about taking photographs for her class and decided to stop by a section of water that is close to town. I haven’t fished this tight section of water. This would be a roll cast only zone. Still I love looking at the water, trying to find what I’m looking for. I have yet to see a single fish in this stream but I’m still looking.

The Clingers

The Fast Water Clingers Family Heptageniidae

These nymphs all have flat slender bodies, they also all have stronger legs to hold in fast flowing water. All the nymphs except the Epeorus genus have three tails, epeorus having only two. The mayflies that have substantial hatch numbers in S.E. MN are Macaffertium vicarium the March Brown and Macaffertium ithica the Light Cahill. I should note that the names of both of these species have changed from Stenonema vicarium and ithica to Macaffertium after further research demanded the shift in genus. Hatches 2 has them listed as Stenonema.

March Brown (Macaffertium vicarium) 10-12 Mottled tan and brown. June-Mid July

The March Brown is the larger of the two species that in habit Southeastern MN. According to my research the nymphs of vicarium are easily identified by the long tails in addition to the flattened body and strong legs. The tails on vicarium also splay at nearly 90 degrees. These nymphs are on average 16mm in length and are reddish brown. Vicarium move prior to emergence and one should examine rocks in ankle deep fast-moderate water for their presence. One should fish nymph patterns deep near the bottom as these nymphs either crawl or swim close to the bottom to find their emergence site. 

Hatches 2 makes it a point to note that the duns of Vicarium have a wing that slants more than other varieties at a nearly 45 degree angle. Hatching occurs throughout the day from 10am to roughly 6pm during the proper conditions. 

Light Cahill (Macaffertium ithaca) 12-16 Cream to tan. June-Mid July 

There is no picture of an ithaca dun on troutnut.com. I was however, able to find an image of a nymph. It’s interesting to me that troutnut.com has so little information on this species. I will be excited to find samples of these in the wild. 

Hatches 2 clearly states that the nymphs of both varieties here vicarium and ithaca need only be tied in medium and dark brown. Nymphs for ithaca should be tied in size 10-12. I’ve decided that when the mayfly series is over I will be posting a master list with sizes for nymphs and dries as well as color for all species related to S.E. MN. 

Anglers should note that days in June where the weather is cooler due to overcast or rain can produce day long emergence, on hotter days they will be concentrated in the morning. I like the fact that Hatches 2 notes that during this time of the year water levels are usually going down and that you should be careful while wading. 

I like the second image, making me want to try tying nymph with black thread down the hook shank then using perhaps lighter dubbing to simulate the dark center of the nymph.

Note: This information is as region specific (S.E. MN) as I can tailor it to be. It may be relevant to Northern Parts of Iowa and Southwestern Wisconsin. Also, if I forgot something/made a mistake in my information PLEASE post with what needs to be changed. This is for my benifit as well as visitors to W.F.F.

Looking at the 1st nymphal category “The Crawlers” there are five Mayfly species that have direct relevance to myself as well as other S.E. MN anglers. The following is a list in order by approximate hatch dates with condensed versions of relevant information. Thank You Troutnut.com for the excellent pictures.  

The Crawlers

Dark Hendrickson (Ephemerella subvaria ) 12-14 Reddish brown to tan.  April-May

Look for nymphs in the gravel and vegetation of slower meandering water. These nymphs tend to swim for a longer time and can be twitched upon retrieval. Hatching begins at 50-55 degrees. Hatches 2 points out the importance of poor weather slowing the duns down and providing for optimum fishing dun patterns. 

Light Hendrickson (Ephemerella invaria) 12-16 Tan with olive and yellow cast. Late May-June

These nymphs tend to prefer medium-fast water and like subvaria the nymphs use the current to choose an optimum emergence site. So they make for good nymph fishing because they are movin’! Hatching occurs in water from 50-60 degrees. Hatches 2 makes a big point of noting the size and color differences by a hook size or more between invaria, rotunda and dorothea. Meaning to me that I should tie these slightly larger because I’m looking specifically at invaria. 

Iron Blue Quill (Paraleptophlebia) 18-20 Dark gray with maroon cast. Late May-June 

My book says that the hook size for a dry is supposed to be 16-18. The nymphs tend to prefer quieter water. The gills are much larger on these nymphs than those of ephemerella.

Sulfur (Ephemerella dorothea) 16-18 Orange to cream. Late May-Early July

So my research in telling me that dorothea has typical ephemerella features and will spend time finding a spot to emerge. The book really makes a big point to note that dorothea differs from invaria by a full hook size and color. 

White-winged Blacks a.k.a. Trico’s (Tricorythodes) 20-24 Charcoal. July-Sept

I fished during trico action so I’ve seen these and they are small. The book and other info is right on for a 20-24 size hook. The nymphs thrive in streams with a p.h. of 7.5 and above. Nymphs live in the silt, sand and gravel in slow to medium current. As well as the aquatic plant life. Hatching between 52-56 degrees. Trico’s also have typically a very long period of emergence spanning over months.

Trying to keep this short but very useful. Hope my goal is accomplished. Also, I picked dun photos because I’m tying Compara-Dun Dries at the moment. Pictures coming soon.

I fished one stream north of 90 today working my way from spot to spot stopping at four places along the stream. I had little to no luck for the first three hours I was out. I caught something on my fire fly streamer that looked like a large shiner minnow about 5in in length. I kept trying streamers failing to give up probably cost me quite a few fish, I was really wanting to get one on a streamer but alas nothing. I tried dead drifting, stripping, and twitching my streamers and nothing. Finally I switched to a tato scud and picked up 5 pretty quickly, most small less than 10in but towards the end I picked up this bigger guy probably 15-16in. All in all I found a few new places to hit up the fish and that was cool but I need to learn how to fish streamers more effectively.