Bugs

In his videotape, Nymphing, Gary Borger quotes a wise man as saying, “It’s best to begin at the beginning.” The beginning for fly fishermen is knowing about what trout eat. So, let’s discuss food organisms.

Many anglers have a casual understanding of Mayflies, Caddisflies, Stoneflies, Midges etc. But that’s as far as it goes. They find the extraordinary number of bugs overwhelming so they fish attractor patterns.

I suggest you familiarize yourself with one stream. Learn its’ biomass and the stream life of other waterways will fall together.

Let’s compare aquatic insects to members of the animal family.

Mayflies (Order: Ephemeroptera)

Dogs. There are big Dogs…

and little dogs…

There are dogs of all shapes and colors.

They are all dogs, but they aren’t the same.

There are big Mayflies like Hexagenia…

and little Mayflies like Tricorythodes (tricos).

There are Mayflies of different colors and sizes. They are all Mayflies but they’re not the same.

All dogs have the same life cycle. All Mayflies have the same life cycle.\

Learn more about Mayflies insects by clicking here.