|
How to Match the
Hatch
Matching the hatch is a
'buzz phrase' that permeates fly fishing culture the
world over. It is something that is so fundamental to
what we do as fly fishers that regardless of whether
we know what it is, we all do it to some degree. Made
famous by Ernest Schwiebert in his book of the same
name, it has become the catch cry of the thinking angler,
its mere mention almost as much a short cut to acceptance
among your peers as knowing how to give the correct
handshake at your local Freemasons gathering.
So what is it?
Matching the hatch refers
to the practice of deciphering exactly what a fish is
eating and selecting an appropriate fly pattern. It
is that simple. When a trout sees a large number of
a certain insect it locks onto it to the exclusion of
all other food items on the water. This is what is known
as selective feeding and often the reason for those
occasions when a fish will not look at any fly pattern
you present. At these times unless you can work out
what is going on and present the right pattern you will
be unsuccessful.
Sometimes working out what
is going on is not that easy. There may be a 'complex'
hatch of several species of insects in various stages
of emergence at the one time. Just a few days ago down
in the Breakaway section of the Goulburn River we experienced
a very interesting situation where there were two types
of caddis both emerging and egg laying, three species
of
mayfly dun on the water and emerging as well as spinners
of the various mayfly mating and egg laying. In other
words a smorgasbord of options for the trout.
First you must determine
which stage of the hatch are the fish feeding on. Are
they slashing from the top? leaping clear of the water?
gently rising with head out of the water? or push/swirl
rising just beneath the surface? Slashing from the top
indicates the fish are chasing something that can get
away that is on the surface, often a caddis, leaping
indicates the fish is taking the insect in flight which
is often a sign that spinners hovering just above the
water are on the menu. Gently rising with heads breaking
the surface will quite often mean duns are being taken
and a push rise or swirl just beneath the surface could
indicate emerging caddis or mayfly.
In this instance it was
a gentle rise with head breaking the surface which indicated
to us that the duns were being taken. A quick seining
of the drift line revealed three types of duns; the
March Brown size 12, the Rusty size 16 and a Grey size
14. As it was hard to see exactly which insect was being
taken two flies were chosen; a #12 March Brown pattern
and a #14 Grey pattern. The fish soon showed their approval
by taking the #14 grey in preference to the March Brown
with not one single take on the larger fly. Simple skills
of deduction and observation allowed us to select the
correct patterns. This is something all of us can do
and  we
can all then achieve better results while out on the
water.
So why were the fish taking
the Grey. Well we know that fish will lock onto the
food item most prevalent. The success of the pattern
told us that although a lot of insects were out and
about the #14 Grey pattern was the most prolific and
therefore the one being targeted. Don't be fooled by
the size of the insects. Often we are lulled into tying
on the larger pattern because we attribute our own logic
to the fish, that is a larger meal must be more attractive
and therefore likely to bring success. This is not the
case. The insect that makes up the greater mass will
be the food item sought by the fish. While the bigger
insects may be easier to see there is often a much larger
number of the smaller bugs hatching at the same time
despite our eye's tendency to focus on the bigger item.
This situation is often referred to by experienced fly
fishers as a 'masking hatch' i.e. the presence of a
few larger/brighter colored insects masks the presence
of more numerous but smaller/duller colored insects.
The Four Rules
The most important thing
you can take from this brief outline of Matching the
Hatch are the Four Rules. They are 1.Size,
2.Shape or Profile, 3.Colour and 4.Presentation.
Size is the most important of the fly selection
rules and equal in importance with Presentation. When
trying to match the hatch grab a sample of the insect
and measure it off against your imitations. We often
refer to patterns in sizes e.g.. #12, #14, # 16 etc
and this is a universal system. All this does is allow
us to gauge the insect's size against a hook size allowing
for an accurately chosen imitation. Remember, while
there may not be a big difference between a #14 and
a # 16 to us, to a trout it can represent a nearly 50%
increase in size. A fish locked into a prolific food
item will obviously not look at such an inexpertly selected
pattern. You must be reasonably close when choosing
a fly size. I cannot recall how many times an incorrect
pattern in the correct size has been taken while the
right fly in the wrong size is refused. Get the size
right and you are in with a shot.
Shape is second on the
list of rules and refers to the profile that the fly
has. For instance if it is a mayfly dun you must have
a low riding body, prominent wing, slim abdomen and
larger thorax. If it is a beetle you must try and mimic
the round, stocky shape of the natural as well as getting
it to sit in the film like the real thing. A spinner
must sit on its hackle points and tail causing it to
ride high like a hovering natural and an emerging caddis
pupa must hang in the resting 'tuck' position just like
the hatching pupa.
Hook selection is important
when it comes to shape. A scud or midge pupa must use
a curved hook to give the correct shape, a short shank
will often assist when tying beetles and a larger one
when representing grasshoppers and crickets. Choose
hooks carefully with the desired effect in mind.
Also important when keeping
this second rule in mind are 'triggers' that the fish
are likely to key in on when targeting various insects.
Duns have a definite trigger in the upright wing so
obvious to all who see them. Caddis pupa collect air
bubbles on their body during emergence well imitated
by using sparkle yarn in the pattern, a very definite
trigger. Rubber legs on grasshoppers, wiggling tails
on damselfly nymphs, a flashback on a nymph pattern.
The list goes on. Try and work out what triggers are
present and imitate these in your flies.
One last point when talking
of shape must be made although it could be seen as a
part of presentation. That is, how does the fly behave
or sit. As mentioned earlier a mayfly spinner should
sit high on the film, a dun low on the film and an emerger
hanging beneath the film. Knowing how to imitate the
various stages of the insects takes a little time to
come to terms with fully. Reading the rise form, knowing
whether the food item came from below, in, on or above
the surface is most important. While too complex to
be comprehensive here we have included a rough list
below (see table at bottom of page).
The importance of colour
is being constantly debated and both sides have their
ambassadors with their supporting arguments. Just how
important colour is remains to be seen (no pun intended)
and hopefully this will always be the case. More often
than not getting the first two parts, size and shape,
will get the desired result.
Sometimes however changing
colour will be the key to success. Grasshoppers are
one of the insects for which colour of the pattern plays
a critical role. In December the hoppers are immature
and the colour of them is very different to later on
in summertime. They are usually green and shades thereof
at this time of year and the standard natural deer hair
patterns fail to work. However switching to the exact
same pattern using green chenille as the body and green
deer hair for the head will bring success. Also with
Blue Winged Olives in Autumn you will find that getting
the size and shape right will often not interest the
fish without the correct olive/grey dubbing for the
body.
While not always the case
we would recommend that you try and get the colour as
close as possible to the natural. If the mayfly you
are attempting to imitate is a slightly different shade
of grey when compared with your pattern do not despair.
To try and get it perfect would drive you insane and
unless you live on the river and have access to a multitude
of different materials you will never precisely imitate
any of these insects. Be content to approximately match
the colour of the insect.
Last but definitely not
least is presentation. While this is made up of several
parts in the end it can be seen as the way a fly arrives
at the fish. First of all you must not spook the fish
while casting. This means dull colored lines, laying
the line an leader away from the fish i.e. casting from
behind and to the side and generally being careful when
presenting the fly. Depending on the situation you may
need to cast from downstream of the fish, upstream,
the side even from directly above. The trick is to be
aware of just what the fish can see and to present the
fly without the line spooking it.
So you can manage your
casting sufficiently well to get the fly to the fish
without spooking it. How are the naturals behaving?
If it is an egg laying caddis the insect will be seen
dipping and crashing to the surface and so must our
imitation. Fishing from above the trout and swinging
a dry fly down and across to it will work as will an
upstream presentation with a twitch at the appropriate
moment. A mayfly dun will be found drifting with the
natural flow of the current and again so must your natural.
A long leader and fine tippet are needed here to allow
the fly to drift free of any drag just like the natural.
If you were to swing the mayfly dun down and across
like we do the caddis you would likely never hook a
fish just as dead drifting a caddis over a fish chasing
the egg laying adults will also likely fail. Work out
what the insects are doing and get the fly to the fish
without spooking it as well as accurately imitating
what the naturals are doing.
While this seems rather
difficult and complicated it isn't really. Remember
capture a natural if possible and use it to select your
fly. Choose the correct size, get the shape and approximate
colour right and then present it well and you will catch
more fish than you miss. Sometimes unlocking this code
will seem to make things almost too easy with every
fish taking the fly making you think you are invincible.
Then something about the hatch will change, perhaps
the rusty duns are less significant as more spinners
come out over the water leaving the angler wondering
why the fish have stopped taking his fly. The key is
observation, be aware that the fish will swap over to
other food items or stages of the hatch if they become
more prolific and be prepared to change as well.
Conclusion
Matching the hatch has
become famous over the past 20 years and with good reason.
As simple as observing and understanding the various
stages of the hatch and choosing a fly and method of
presentation to suit, it should be the first thing a
new fly fisher learns, after the basics of casting.
This common sense approach to the sport will hold all
who follow its principles in good stead whether they
are fishing the mayflies of the Breakaway here on the
Goulburn or the caddis hatches of the Missouri in Montana.
So next time you are fishing a hatch and cannot get
a take, capture a natural and compare it to the patterns
in your box before choosing a fly. A little time doing
this investigative work will pay off in the long run.
Learn to tie the Basic
Goulburn River Matching the Hatch Fly Box (only main
groups)
|
