Where do I start?

[TerryLee 0]

Just what it says on the sign out front, what's a hatch and how can it help me catch more bass?

 

I have heard all this stuff about hatches and matching the hatch, but I really don't think I get it. I am guessing it has to do with when certain types of insects are "born", but aside from that I am lost.

 

Will someone please point me in the right direction? :help:

 

Thanks,

 

T.L.

 

 

[Guest]

You've got the general idea...but what the terms really mean is just being observant to the available food the fish may be keying in on...might be the insect you see hatching at the moment..do you see dragonflies & damselflies? Both dragonfly and damsel fly nymphs as well as flies imitating the adults might be productive. The nymph flies often don't have to be exact copies but just suggestive of the actual nymph.

 

But the idea is a bit broader than that...when extended to bait fish it means matching the approximate size, color and profile of the available baitfish. If most of the baitfish are 2" long, you'll probably get ver few bites (plus a sore arm) tossing a 5 1/2" long baitfish pattern.

 

Hope this helps a bit...

 

Mark Delaney

[Sticky 0]

Right, what Mark said.

 

"Match the Hatch" is sort of a general term meaning to match the current forage. For trout it can be very specific concerning size and color of insects(mayflies, caddis). For bass try to match size and color of baitfish, crayfish and so forth(leeches). The general rule for tubes with conventional gear is to match the color of the bottom, do the same only with a wooly bugger.

[Joe Hard 0]

This is the first time I have heard of matching the hatch for bass. To me it was always a mater of topwater or subsurface, large or small flies. Attractor or representation. There are a few insect type flies I do use for bass, and they are damsels, and dragon fly nymphs in the spring and summer with the adult of the species being a summer fall fly. I know that bass love crayfish and certian times of the year they will molt there shells and therfore be a differnt colour, they are also differnt sizes and ages of the species. Frogs are also simmilar throughout the season as tadpoles are found in the spring and adults the rest of the year. Dark times I find produce best on topwater for frog immitations, cast and wait. Bees are great flies for bass in the summer either foam, spun deerhair, or chennile fished top or subsurface. There are many new worm type flies and tonns of baitfish immitations, that can be used to catch bass. Bunny type leeches are great flies. I think it all depends on where you are fishing as well, lakes or rivers are differnt, and so are the times of the year.

[Guest]

Best day i ever had bass fishing was at a pond in a state park near here one spring...dragonflies were hatching, and the trick was to use just anything that sort of looked like a grey dragonfly nymph...didn't have one the right color so I made do with a gray black backed- gill getter of teh approximately right size...6 bass and 4 large crappie in an hour and 15 minutes...then a thunderstorm eneded everything and I got very wet....

 

Mark Delaney

[TerryLee 0]

Thank you for all of your responses.

 

I read somewhere that you can catch a bunch of smallmouths after a hatch of mayflies or stoneflies. How can I find out when these hatches will occur in my area, or is that even possible?

 

Thanks,

 

Terry :cheers:

 

 

[Guest]

You may be able to find some hatch charts for the area you live in...but be warned, hatch charts are just approximate, and tell you a range of times when hatches may be occurring. There are some online, but they are usually for very specific areas.

 

Mark Delaney

[Taxon 0]

...what's a hatch and how can it help me catch more bass?

Terry-

 

Actually, you’ve asked a darned good question. Although I have no quibble with the responses you’ve already gotten, I suspect you may have been looking for a more detailed answer, particularly to the first part of your question, “What’s a hatch? So, I’ll attempt to provide one. Of course, the following description is quite generalized, so there are some exceptions, which I won’t attempt to explain here.

 

The term, “hatch” is used by fly fishers to describe an insect’s emergence from its aquatic environment. The aquatic insect starts life as an egg, deposited by a female adult. After a variable period of time (usually a few weeks), it exits the egg and begins actively feeding and growing.

 

Depending on the type of insect, this life stage is called a nymph or a larva. For example, in this life stage, mayflies, stoneflies, damselflies, dragonflies, and waterbugs are called nymphs. Whereas, caddisflies, true flies, beetles, and others are called larvae. In either case, they spend the vast majority of their life in this stage, feeding, growing, and periodically shedding their external skeleton when it is no longer able to accommodate additional growth.

 

The larva has an additional life stage. The larva seals itself in a cocoon-like structure for a period, transforms into a pupa, and begins developing wings. Once mature, the pupa exits the cocoon-like structure, emerges from its aquatic environment, transforms to a winged stage, and takes flight.

 

The nymph begins developing wings in wing pads during its later stages of development. Once mature, the nymph emerges from its aquatic environment, transforms to a winged stage, and takes flight.

 

This is what is referred to as a hatch, or as hatching, or as emergence. Now I’ll address the second part of your question, “how can this help me get bass?”

 

Most fish (bass included) depend on aquatic insects for some part of their diet. So, as with any fish, it is useful to understand when a particular life stage of a particular insect becomes a significant part of the diet for the fish you are targeting. Of course, one also needs to select an appropriate artificial, make an appropriate presentation, and impart appropriate action in order to consistently fool your target fish, particularly the larger/wiser ones.

 

Although it may not be necessary to have even rudimentary understanding of insect behavior in order to catch your target fish, it certainly can’t hurt, particularly at those times when they are keying on aquatic insects. This may be during the aquatic portion of insect life, during emergence, or when the adults return to the water’s surface for purpose of mating or egg-laying.

 

Hope this helps. If you or anyone else has follow-on questions, I’d be happy to answer them, either here or through my website.

[TerryLee 0]

Thank you Taxon. You were correct in assuming I was looking for a more technical answer, although all of the answers were much appreciated.

 

I'll check your website out, and post any questions I come up with here for the benefit of others, and/or contact you through there as well.

 

Thanks again,

 

Terry