Snowflies

I kicked off the start of my fly-fishing season last week with a day wading the South Fork with my good buddy Charlie Howarth. We drove over to Swan Valley early last Saturday to secure our spot in one of my favorite sidechannels. The weather called for a high of 41 degrees, and partly cloudy skies. Not so much. During the 6 hours we were on the water, we literally saw everything from blue skies and calm, to blinding snow and wind. It's what we call springtime in the Rockies...anything goes. As far as the fishing...the streamer bite was nonexistent, and I threw everything I had at them. The nymphing and dry-fly fishing was more productive, though. Cutthroat and Whitefish were coming to the net subsurface on Midge larva.
During some of the cloudier, calm periods, I found Cutthroat were rising to adult Midges in quiet water. Since I prefer to dry-fly fish, it was great to see some fish eating on top. Although Midges can hatch any time of year around here, they seem to receive the most attention from anglers in the springtime. When the air temps are still cold, and the snow is still flying, it is typically the only hatch that you will encounter...so if you want to fish dry flies, make sure that you have some Midge patterns ready. They are sometimes called "snowflies" for this reason. I'll see midges all summer long, but when they are hatching alongside large Mayflies, Stoneflies and Caddisflies, they get little attention from anglers.
Many people I have fished with often use the term "Midge" to describe any small fly that is hatching. They are actually not a Mayfly at all (which many assume), but are their own unique group of bugs. Adult Midges, and their larva, are an extremely important food source for trout in this region. The fish I found feeding on Saturday were clearly eating adult midges...I could see them on the water and landing on my body. Since it's so early in the season, though, I was able to fish a simple Parachute Adams (which is much easier to see), instead of an actual midge imitation. If you're on the water around here in the next month or so, keep your eyes peeled in slack water for noses up on these tiny bugs. Incidentally, we didn't see a single Brown or Rainbow around that day. We hit all the obvious water, but they just did not want to play. Here's my bud Charlie with a nice bent rod...good to see you Charlie! Haven't heard much new this week on the Montana House Bill threatening stream access up there...as soon as I do, I'll pass it along.