Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The Great Caddis Hatch

In my opinion, "The Mother" of all Mothers Day Caddis hatches occurs on the Arkansas. It begins in the Canon City area around April 15, and gradually moves upstream and past Salida until runoff blows it away around 30 days later. The irony is, however, that by Mothers Day the fish have seen so many bugs that fooling them with an Elk Hair Caddis is next to impossible. The Caddis species is Brachycentrus, preceded and combined with Rachycophila. The Brachys hatch when water temperatures spike into the low 50s. When people call and want to know where the hatch is, I simply tell them to drive until they cant see out the windshield from dead bugs. Then stop, clean the glass and drive about three more miles upstream. The idea is to get above the blanket hatch so fishing a dry fly can be more productive. Having bugs on the water is good, but during this hatch there can just be too many. Just picking out your fly on the water can be impossible, let alone picking them out of your ears and nose.

Being able to think your way through this hatch is very important. As it begins, the larva and pupa patterns are very important. I like to start out the morning with Larry Kingreys Rubberleg Stone trailing a bead head Caddis Larva. I run this system deep until mid morning when I switch to a large dry fly (Stimulator or Wulff) with a deep running pupa as a dropper. This system should be fished on the swing (across and down), so that the pupa rises in the current like the natural. When fish move to the adult, I use a Black Foam Caddis, size 14, trailing Larrys unweighted pupa or a LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa. Generally mid afternoon is uneventful, so I come back to the water with an Egg Layer and a Spent Caddis from around 5PM, until just after dark. All of these flies are necessary to be successful throughout the entire hatch if you plan to fish all day. Dont forget that sometimes when the bugs are too thick to breathe, the fish actually are gorged and dont feed much. Use this time to take a break and reassess whats going on. There are days when just fishing an Elk Hair Caddis can bring 75 fish to hand. This is generally around the third week of April before the fish are literally "bugged" out.

The interesting thing about the Arkansas is that most folks think the Caddis hatch is the best fishing of the year. It is the most famous, but the spring Baetis hatches can produce just as many fish and the Hopper/Dropper fishing all summer can be exceptional. The first hatch of spring is the Blue Winged Olive, Baetis Tricaudatus. It can be spectacular on cloudy, overcast March and early April days. Light snowfall can generate hoards of these beautiful little bugs, and basically kick starts a feeding frenzy that lasts through the Caddis hatch until runoff. If you fish the middle of April, you may fish BWOs in the mornings and a Caddis hatch in the afternoons as water warms. We commonly see them on the water at the same time.

After runoff, clear edges start to produce big numbers of fish on adult Golden Stones. This generally is available around the middle of June, and is the best time of year to float fish. Working shoreline from a boat produces big numbers and big fish. Just cast to the dirt and let the boat drag it away from the shoreline. Explosive rises occur just inches from the dirt. If you dont have a way to float, then walk the shorelines and pick apart the submerged rock gardens with a Stimulator trailing an attractor bead head. These systems are used all summer and fall. Favorite Hopper/Dropper Rigs are Yellow, Orange, or Green Stimulators or Parachute Madam Xs, trailing a Copper John, Silver or Gold Ice, Bead Head Flashback, or Prince nymph on 24 to 30 inches of fluorocarbon tippet. PMD hatches, Caddis, Red Quills, and fall Baetis mix it up with the wonderful terrestrial activity well into November. Streamer season follows with pre and post spawn behavior. Midging fish can make warmer December and January days very attractive, although this river in winter is not very consistent.

The Arkansas, in my opinion, is the best dry fly fishing in the Southern Rockies. Some dry fly will catch a fish twelve months a year. Access is great; the weather is generally very good (they dont call this the "Banana Belt" for nothing and the wild Browns are willing participants in your day off. What else could you ask for?

Lonelyheartsmovie
Lucentmemorycard
1gbpc2700ddr
Chaintechmemory
Cl
Warnerindependantpicturesmovie
Fantasticfourriseofthesilversurfermovie
Usbmemorycardreaders
Gp7memory
Samuelgoldwynroadsideattractionsmovie
Ddr2memorycontroller
Sanyomemory
Wildtigersihaveknownmovie
Thehitchermovie
Compactflashmemory
Theprisonerorhowiplannedtokilltonyblairmovie
Edomemory
1gbmemory
Computerramupgrade
Emachinescomputermemory
Ddr2ram
Laptopsmac
Sodimmram
512mbpc2100ddr
Daywatchmovie
Ddrpc2700ram
Jindabynemovie
Thewindthatshakesthebarleymovie
Sodimmmemory
Fullofitmovie
Gp6400memory
1gbusbflashmemory
Applecomputerram
Macintelmemory
Penelopemovie
Laptopddrmemory
512mbmemorycard
16gbram
1gbddrmemorypc2700sodimm
Wildhogsmovie
512mbddr
Shootermovie
Thrillermovie
256mbpc2700sodimm
Fracturemovie
Thenumber23movie
Thelastkingofscotlandmovie
Bossram
Yearofthedogmovie
256mb133mhz
Themessengersmovie
Flagsofourfathersmovie
Touchstonehollywoodpicturesmovie
Maccomputer
Kingstonddrram
512mbsdmemorycard
Thetigerandthesnowmovie
Disneymemory
512mbpc2700laptopmemory
Universalmovie
Ciscomemory
Georgiarulemovie
4gbram
256mbsecuredigitalmemorycard
Sonypicturesclassicsmovie
Spectekmemory
Etowermemory
Macbookkits
Rolandmemory
Diggersmovie
Pc2700
Ddr333ram
Rcamemory
512mbddr2
Duckmovie
512mbddrmemory
1gbpc2700sodimm
Thinkpadmemoryupgrade
Ddr2sdram
Closetohomemovie
Paramountvantagemovie
Edorammemory
Macminiintel
Pc133rammemory
Memorymodules
Sodimm 1gb
Abitmemory
Aiptekmemorycard
Memorycard1gb
Microxdcard
Sdmemorycardusbadapter
Crucialram
Thehillshaveeyes2movie
Hitachimemory
Ramprices
Faygrimmovie
Knockedupmovie
Thebourneultimatummovie
1gbddr2
Smokinaces
Goodluckchuckmovie
Edgememorycard
Edgememoryusb
Digitalmusictracker
G4memory
512mbpc2100ddrsodimm
Volvermovie
512mbpc2700
Philipsmemory
Civicdutymovie
Turistamovie
Danelecmemory
Dreamgirlsmovie
Audiovoxmemory
1gbddrram
Lionsgatemovie
256mbmemorystickpro
Panslabyrinthmovie
Elcantemovie
Ddr2eccmemory
1gbram
Hitachimemory
Daysofglorymovie
256mbsecuredigitalmemorycard
Edorammemory
Macintelmemory
Cheaprammemory
Chaintechmemory
Usbflashmemorysticks
Penelopemovie
Clevomemory
Omnibookmemory
Thelookoutmovie
Alienwarememoryupgrade
Smokinaces
Acermemoryram
Thehillshaveeyes2movie
Usbflashmemorydrives
Inowpronounceyouchuckandlarrymovie
Codenamethemoviecleaner
Archosmemory
256mbddrram
G4ram
Emachinesrammemory
Securedigitalmemorycardreader
Cheapram
Pc2700ddrmemory
Severancemovie
Powerbookg4
Underdogmovie
Collegepussy
Ddrramprice
Philipsmemorycard
Promotionalusbmemorystick
Thesimpsonsmoviemovie
512mbmemory
Yearofthedogmovie
Meettherobinsonsmovie
Thegrudge2movie
Compactflashmemorycardreader
Musicalmovie
Warnerindependantpicturesmovie
Thehoaxmovie
Pc2100ddrmemory
Ddrpc2700
Iomegamemory
Jonestownmovie
Grindhousemovie2
Macg4
Daddyslittlegirlmovie
512mbpc2100
Danelecmemorycard
Sonypicturesmovie
333ddrmemoryram
256mbpc2700ddr
Flashmemorycard
Imacram
Lettersfromiwojimamovie
Edgememorywatch
Sodimmddr
512mbpc2100ddrmemory
Usbmemorysticks
Pc133laptopram
Documentarymovie
Factorygirlmovie
Residentevilextinctionmovie
Digitalmemoryupgrade
G3memory
Paramountvantagemovie
Thebourneultimatummovie
Ddr2667
Macbookkits
Ddr2rammemory
1gbddr2
Macg4notebook
Usbmemorycardreaders
Unconsciousmovie
Kingstonddrram
512mbpc2700sodimm
Iraqinfringementsmovie

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home