Massachusetts Series Eastern Region

New Hampshire Series Western Region

by Gerry Crow

My friend Dick asked: “Gerry, I was frustrated the other night on one of my favorite ponds - with many “circular rises" but no flies on the surface. Humpies, blue-wing olives, etc. didn’t work. Several canoes were out, but only one guy was getting fish. (I did get one just about dark, when they get less selective.) I never spoke to the successful guy, but others thought that the fish were "sipping emergers" and the successful guy knew what bugs would be in the "surface film." So, why didn't some insects hatch and show themselves so I could “match the hatch” and have a chance at catching more fish?“

Everybody has been in that situation at one time or another. There are no visible naturals in the air or hatching off the surface. Fish are sporadically rising, but won’t take the “old faithful” flies you cast to them. (There is nothing obviously hatching for you to match, so you tie on your favorites: blue-wing olives, Adams, elk-hair caddis, Humpies, whatever.) How do you break the code, other than just tying on different flies until something clicks?

Clearly, no one answer is correct in all situations. But let’s consider some of the possibilities.

First, it is possible, but very unlikely that fish are “sipping emergers” if there are no naturals visible on the surface or in the air. This could occur if a breeze or rain sprinkle interrupts a hatch. I have fished ponds when mayflies begin to hatch and a sudden rain shower comes along and the flies stop hatching. Twenty minutes later the rain stops and the flies that had been hatching, but knocked down onto the water surface by the rain are suddenly visible to fish, which then cruise around at a leisurely pace sucking them in. A good fly pattern to attract those fish might be a “crippled emerger” or a dun (adult) pattern fished just below the surface. Sometimes the hatch resumes, but often it’s delayed until the next day. When there is no hatch and no rain or wind the fish probably aren’t “sipping emergers”, so let’s consider other possibilities.

If it is a bright calm day with no insects visible on the surface for fish to eat, and as the sun gets low in the sky you start seeing sporadic rises, it could be that food was available near the surface but in not enough quantity for fish to overcome their natural wariness to feed under bright skies. The food could be terrestrials, such as flying ants that get blown onto the water and drown and are suspended just below the surface. This would be very likely in late summer or early fall a couple days after a rain shower, the perfect conditions for flying ants. It could also be remnants of a spinner fall that occurred before you arrived. Mayfly spinners are often very difficult for anglers to see on the surface, but are a favorite food for trout. They are dead or dying insects that have no chance to elude the fish, so they are the likely food when fish are sipping and not making splashy rises. A bushy, high-floating imitation would not interest the fish, but a sunken spinner might be just the fly pattern to assure your success.

If it were early in the day, fish could be feeding on midges (chironomids, for example) whose pupae suspend under the surface film prior to hatching. If it were in the afternoon or evening it could be egg laying midge adults. Often these midges form clusters of mating or egg laying midges. The insects are typically quite small, size 20 or smaller, and difficult to see. A fly pattern such as a Griffiths gnat with a small soft hackle dropper would be a good choice under these conditions. Start with a size 18 or 20 and go smaller if necessary.

All of these situations call for fishing fly patterns that imitate drowned or pre-emergent insects. Present these flies in or slightly below the surface film. Grease the leader with floatant to within 8 to 12-inches of the fly so the leader will float and the fly, along with most of the tippet, sinks a few inches below the surface. Another approach I like is to suspend a small nymph or emerger behind a parachute dry. I use a parachute pattern so the body will sit low in the surface film while the post and hackle are still visible to the fisherman. We don’t want to impart much motion on the fly. By the same token, an infrequent twitch or slow strip will cause any fish in the area to take notice that there is food available. Just don’t get carried away with stripping the fly. Keep the motion subtle and infrequent. At the slightest swirl or movement of the leader, come tight to the fly to set the hook.

I often carry a piece of fiberglass screening material as a seine to identify available insects. Other people carry small fine-mesh nets, like those used to catch your goldfish when it is time to clean its bowl. If that works for you, use them. Or, just be a little more observant and make a few educated guesses in selecting fly patterns and presentation. You might end up being the “successful guy” on the pond.

Gerry Crow
Fly Angler
Licensed NH Fishing Guide (www.nhriversguide.com )
Let’s Go Fishing Instructor
Trout Unlimited Active Member

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