Ants are available in good numbers for most of the season. The hopper is the most common terrestrial, but not the most important. Actually, some terrestrials make up a stable source of a trout’s diet for a good portion of the summer. Terrestrials When most people think traditional trout food, they think of waterborne insects. While midges hatch year-round, they are a major food source during the early spring and late fall. Subsurface midges are larval worms flies like the simple zebra midge and blood midge are really good representations. These are easily recognizable and can be imitated by the Buzz Ball, para-midge, or Griffith’s gnat. When midges hatch, the adults form clusters on the surface of several adult midges. The adults have short wings and are bad fliers. Midges Midges are probably the most overlooked of all aquatic insects, but they are a food source of fish year-round. Mayfly nymphs are clumsy and are easily knocked off rocks, making them easy fare for fish. I like pheasant tails, Psycho May, and Military May. Mayfly nymphs are narrow-bodied and slim compared to other nymphs. When this happens, try a Quigley cripple, or an RS2. If you put a few good casts over a rising fish with no takes, it is probably eating emergers stuck in the film. For the true adult, flies like the parachute Adams, Compara dun, and the super-effective Purple Haze are great options. This makes them really vulnerable at that stage. They float up and the adult must free itself from the nymph shuck and emerge from the surface film. They do not shoot to the surface like caddis. There are a few things to keep in mind with mayfly adults. Legendary hatches such as the pale morning dun and the blue-winged olive are both mayflies. Mayflies Mayflies are easily recognizable by their upright wings that resemble a sailboat when the fly is floating on the surface. I like the CDC prince nymph, Delektable CDC Baby, and the TungDart to represent the emerging caddis. Webby soft-hackle nymphs with CDC (a type of feather) trap the air bubble and look like an emerging caddis. They shoot to the surface with an air bubble attached. The nymph form is most vulnerable to fish during emergence. Many caddis species build nests of small pebbles holding them together with spider web–like netting. These May-hatching caddis have a darker body and the peacock does a great job.Ĭaddis in the nymph stage are the rivers’ handyman. For the Mother’s Day hatch, I like the Rio Grande caddis with the peacock body. For the summer caddis, I like tan bodies. To represent adults, try an elk-hair caddis, or a Furminksi fluttering caddis. One of the most famous caddis hatches is the Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch at the beginning of May. The adults have swept-back wings that form a tent-like structure and can have bodies that are tan, olive, or orange. This is a mating swarm and shortly afterward the females drop to the water to lay eggs. You can easily spot them by the dancing of the adults above the water on a warm summer evening. For a dry-fly imitation, I love the Chubby Chernobyl in a variety of sizes and colors, but the size 10 with a golden-orange body and tan legs is the go-to year-round.Ĭaddis Caddisflies hatch from May until August, and on many rivers, they are a significant food source. Trout like the larger and darker ones in the spring and smaller, lighter ones as the summer wears on. Make sure to have these in a variety of colors and sizes. Pat’s Rubber Legs easily represents sub-surface nymph stages. Stoneflies’ multi-year lifespan make them available as a food source year-round, and the fish know it. The most famous of this family is the salmonfly, a large orange stonefly that hatches in June and early July. Stoneflies Stoneflies are prolific in all western streams and these bigger bites are easy to recognize: three sets of legs, split tails and antenna, swept-back wings, and prehistoric-looking in both the nymph and dry stage. Where to start? Here are five insect types you’re likely to encounter in the rivers around Bozeman, and the patterns you’ll need to represent them. Walk into any of southwest Montana’s great fly shops and you’ll notice hundreds of patterns, each representing a specific insect at a specific time in its life cycle.
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