April 24, 2017

Blossoming Riffles

Looking outside, dogwoods blossom with flowers of pink and white. The hardwood’s buds are still tight, but lawns are greening and the yellow heads of dandelions seem to have exploded to view in the past couple of days. With these flowers come the blossoms of our trout streams. Mayflies and caddis are beginning to bloom in the fertile riffles of our favorite waters. Just as plants need sunlight and warmth for their buds to develop and open, so do trout stream insects. For insects to shake off winter and develop into emerging adults, sunlight is key, and the past couple of days have provided this ingredient. Today is bright in Rockford, and the Rogue and her riffles are basking in the sunshine. What does this mean to anglers? In my view, it means we will have insect activity in the mid-afternoon. Hendrickson and caddis will be the primary emergences. In the early afternoon, fish soft hackles and emerger patterns below the surface film. As more bugs hatch and fish begin to feed on top, dry flies will be productive. The window of feeding activity, as in any hatch, may be small, but worthwhile. Now is the time to steal an afternoon and head to the water, or at least the indicators are pointing in that direction.

I wrote this last week after the rain. Thought I would share…

Dogwoods bloom pink and white
The river looks like a latte
Beneath the torrent cling fragile buds
Mayflies and caddis soon will blossom
Providing nourishment to winter worn trout
And my soul