Matching a hatch....

[lad]

In a perfect world I would go down to the river and see fish rising and I tie on a fly that matches and start catching them.

In the real world, my world anyway this hasn't happened too many times in my fishing career but one August many summers ago i tried something a bit different. 

My usual style is i try all my -go to- flys,  about six of them and if i don't succeed with any of those i tie on one of the next 87 i hardly ever use.  They  never worked much before and probably will carry on with the same rate of success. 

It got me thinking what actually constitutes a hatch or how many times does a fish need to see bug on the water to decide its a hatch and it will  start feeding? I don't believe they hit the first bug that floats through their window as it wouldnt really  matter much what fly you had on. Would it be the fifth six or how many. Does the first bug of the hatch get a worry free ride all the way through..... Possibly but I think it would get hit by the first hungry 4" dink trout sooner or later.

So one day about fifteen years ago i was near a bridge in the SW and there were hoppers everywhere it seemed. I sat down nearby and watched and realized that a very few actually hit the water but when they did they would not get hit until they were flowing with the river and at almost a collection point so to speak.  I watched for about an hour and i wasn't fishing, just hanging out. A fine summer day built for watching moving water for sure. A few days had passed when i returned and  there were many dead hoppers hit by cars on the road as it was a fairly busy road into town. I picked up about 40 of them  and took them home with a plan in mind to create a hatch. I waited until the hoppers were no more and the air was cooler and returned without any gear other than my hoppers. I dropped a dead hopper in the water where i knew it would drift through a hole which held fish that i have been to so many times before. Notta thing hit, no action what so ever as far as i could see. I kept at it dropping those hoppers one at a time until the seventh one and BANG!  Down that sucking thing went and it was better than catching it with a rod as by then i just wasnt ready for it. I am sure my heart skipped a beat and my eyes bulged on the first hit. I kept at it dropping a hopper every minute or so and the next half dozen got pounded hard. Some of the hoppers were in pretty brutal shape as they didnt die a gentle death, they got hammered by everything on the road. I dont know why but after those first ones the next ten never got hit at all and i left. My conclusion was these fish are actually not too bright and are quite habitual and have an on or off switch programmed in them. I think  if you have a hopper on the end of your line and could cast it over the same trout seven times perfectly you should catch them. It should work for most natural hatches too if everthing else is there sholdn't it? If everything lines up with all things like water temps, pressure etc. we should always be able to make a hatch instead of matching one....right?

[toolman]

No, not really. You could try beating the water repeatedly with a hopper pattern (or any fly), to try and replicate your experiment, but you probably won't have consistent success. Worth noting is that your hoppers were dead, damaged and likely sinking into the film and your multiple eats may have been the work of only one small fish, which stopped feeding after eating 6 dead hoppers in a row. The joy and challenge of dry fly fishing is all about matching natural hatches, searching for willing risers, tying your own patterns. It's not about trying to get lucky. That's been my experience. Results may vary....

[SilverDoctor]

 I have spent so much more time watching the water and finding actual fishing lanes where Trout go to feed than actually fishing. Certainly prospecting is a way to go but I have never been a one to flog the water with "go to flies". My best tool is actually a small pair of binoculars to look for trout that are either rising or in many cases just finning on the bottom between hatches. Not all areas hold trout. There are literally dozens of different bugs that are available to Trout during the course of the year if you are a Dry fly fisher. Beginning with Midges, Stoneflies, Ants, Caddis and Tricos plus a host of others. Each has not only its season but its time of day and place on the river. Some are early morning or late evening in the dark so that all you hear is gulping trout to try to target with you casts.

From just a personal point of view I fish with the objective of getting to know the river, when and how the trout feed. I have kept a concise fishing diary of such things as water temperature, flow height, and bugs encountered on all the streams I fish, they are all different but the research is half the fun. I also take pictures of Mayflies and other bugs to have an idea what I am up against and need to tie or find a fly that matches. That is not to say that you can't fish any way you want but this is what makes sense and satisfies me. Maybe I'm just getting old and set in my ways but it's what gives me pleasure. I can fish Nymphs and do very well or swing a streamer and nail a big brown in a lie, but my goal has always been to fool a trout feeding on surface or slightly subsurface and catch trout on my terms. I cant count the hours it has taken me an to slowly get myself into position behind a rising fish and get that one or two drifts. Mind you I've blown enough stalks on trout but its part of the game.

Just my Old Guy two cents.

[lad]

10 hours ago, SilverDoctor said:

 I have spent so much more time watching the water and finding actual fishing lanes where Trout go to feed than actually fishing. Certainly prospecting is a way to go but I have never been a one to flog the water with "go to flies". My best tool is actually a small pair of binoculars to look for trout that are either rising or in many cases just finning on the bottom between hatches. Not all areas hold trout. There are literally dozens of different bugs that are available to Trout during the course of the year if you are a Dry fly fisher. Beginning with Midges, Stoneflies, Ants, Caddis and Tricos plus a host of others. Each has not only its season but its time of day and place on the river. Some are early morning or late evening in the dark so that all you hear is gulping trout to try to target with you casts.

From just a personal point of view I fish with the objective of getting to know the river, when and how the trout feed. I have kept a concise fishing diary of such things as water temperature, flow height, and bugs encountered on all the streams I fish, they are all different but the research is half the fun. I also take pictures of Mayflies and other bugs to have an idea what I am up against and need to tie or find a fly that matches. That is not to say that you can't fish any way you want but this is what makes sense and satisfies me. Maybe I'm just getting old and set in my ways but it's what gives me pleasure. I can fish Nymphs and do very well or swing a streamer and nail a big brown in a lie, but my goal has always been to fool a trout feeding on surface or slightly subsurface and catch trout on my terms. I cant count the hours it has taken me an to slowly get myself into position behind a rising fish and get that one or two drifts. Mind you I've blown enough stalks on trout but its part of the game.

Just my Old Guy two cents.

Great Post Silver!