Match The Isonychia Hatch?
I had the pleasure of fishing with siestafred today~and what a great day it was! Fred’s sporty SUV pulled in the drive about 7 minutes early this morning…Fred was on a mission. Once inside, I discovered that Fred’s vehicle was missing something very important~coffee. I’d obviously not told Fred about this protocol but it was soon remedied. We had decided to hit one of the Georgian Bay tribs.
Fred likes to fish and were a bit disappointed to discover how stained the water was from recent rain. A few "test" casts proved that the fish were not too bothered by the water’s color, so off we went.
There was allot of bug activity, but the highlight had to be the Isonychias. Rocks like this were everywhere.
While the fishing was quite good, I soon became distracted by the numbers of Isonychia. I can’t remember having ever seen so many on this stream so I set out to try and capture an adult for a good look/photo. Since I’d left the net in the truck, this was going to be tricky. I soon noticed this rock.
I thought I’d caught one in the process of emerging, turns out it was dead. I’m not sure what causes this, it was not underwater…. Perhaps they run out of steam if they’ve worked too hard to free themselves…..? Anyhow, brought it home for a few close-ups.
It was no surprise that dark nymphs worked so well today. Top marks go to Fred for getting a ton of hits twitching the nymphs (imitating their swimming behavior) working them down and across towards the bank. The fish were most receptive.
Hot off the successes he had with the Partridge and Yellow, Fred was swinging these through the pools like a pro too. Now THIS turned out to be what the fish wanted to see. They pounced on them, mostly hitting them an inch or two below the surface on the swing. Talk about aggressive takes!
It took a long time to get tired of this sort of fishing. Here is likely the biggest of the day….
Had a great time Fred, thanks for driving and providing the awesome sandwiches. (not planned, I know…..)
