Fly stages

[falconsprint 0]

I'm new at tying.

I'm going to try and get ready for spring opening day in South Western Pennsylvania.

Could someone tell me, in easy terms, what are the development stages of flies?

What type of fly do you tie for the first stage, second stage, etc?

For example is the first stage a larve and would you tie a nymph, (wet fly) and so on?

This would sure clear things up for me.

Thanks

[Hairstacker 0]

In terms of stages of flies, it depends on what flies you're talking about. For example, caddis fly stages that are typically tied in order of progression are larva, pupa, emerger/cripple, and adult. For mayflies, it would be nymph, emerger, adult, and spinner. And there are significant variations even within the two basic categories just mentioned. For example, there are a number of basic, different types of mayfly nymphs. Some can swim and are fairly slender in build and others simply crawl around and are bulkier in build. Thus, many tyers will tie different fly patterns to imitate each -- pheasant tail nymph pattern for the swimmers, hare's ear nymph pattern for the crawler/clingers, for example.

 

One of the best, concise books that describes stages of flies and the fly patterns to imitate them is a book by Dave Hughes called Handbook of Hatches. It doesn't get into any Latin whatsoever and you'll end up learning everything you'll need or want to know about the stages of mayflies, caddis, stoneflies, midges, damselflies, etc., with suggested fly patterns for each stage. Highly recommended and will definitely answer your questions.

 

With all this said, you could simply ask here for a top 20-list of basic, non-complicated fly patterns to cover all your bases.

 

-- Mike

[peregrines 0]

falconsprint-

 

Basically there are 4 main types of insects: mayflies, caddis, stoneflies and midges in most streams. Here are the life cycles with examples of patterns:

 

may fly- nymph (pheasant tail Nymph, gold ribbed hares ear)- emerger ( deer hair emerger, sparkle dun, soft hackle)- dun (blue winged olive, comparadun), Spinner (Rusty Spinner, Coffin Fly) The nymphs can be fat or thin, big or small and are various colors depending on the species. Most mayflies "emerge" underwater, splitting out of their nymphal "shuck and arising to the surface where they wait for their wings to dry before they fly off. After emergence they are sub adults or "duns" with upright wings. This is the stage imitated by most dry fly patterns. After the duns fly off, the undergo a second molt, and turn into adults. These are the "spinners" with spent wings, outstretched not upright. The spinners mate lay eggs and collapse on the water to die. Some species the spinner fall can be very important.

 

Caddis- larva (Rock Worm, Cased Caddis, Bread Crust)- pupa (deep sparkle pupa, emergent sparkle pupa, soft hackle) adult (Elk Hair Caddis, Delta Wing Caddis, Goddards Caddis). Caddis larva come in free living forms and also in cases made of sticks, stones etc. Caddis molt into pupa prior to hatching, and can be imitated very well with sparkle pupa in various colors. Adults are imitated by swept back wings. They mate and females return to lay eggs, most on the surface, some also dive below. A good impressionistic pattern for emergent mayflies and emergent and diving caddis are soft hackles in Partridge and Green, Partridge and Orange and Partridge with brown dubbing (flymph).

 

Stonefly nymph (Kaufmans Stone) - adult (Stimulator, Salmon fly) Stoneflies can get quite large and usually have a lifecycle that lasts several years so nymphs are always in the stream in different sizes. They crawl out of the water and hatch on land, rocks etc and don't emerge in the water in most cases.

 

Midges have both a larvae (Zebra Midge, blood worm) and pupal stage (that look like larva with cdc tufts that look like short wings tied over the eye that imitate the gills) as well as a winged adult form (Griffiths Gnat). They can be very important on some streams, especially tail waters, still waters and during winter on a lot of streams.

 

To get ready for next spring, the best thing to do would be to get a hatch chart for the waters you fish, to identify the major hatches in your streams. You can find them through google, or get one from a local fly shop. There may be some differences from stream to stream, but in most cases you can get a sense of what hatches in your area by have a sense of the general progression of hatches in a region. Here's an example of a hatch chart:

 

http://charlesmeck.com/hatchchart.html

 

A great site to learn more about the biology with pics of different trout stream insects is www.troutnut.com

 

I would prioritize by concentrating on the major hatches during the times you plan to fish. Where abouts are you? That could really help narrow it down. There are many ways to imitate stuff with specific patterns using different materials like March Brown, Hendrickson, Quill Gordon, etc designed to imitate specific hatches as well as different styles (like comparaduns or elk hair caddis) that you can just basically tie the same thing in different sizes and colors to imitate different hatches.

 

Hope this helps.

 

peregrines

 

 

 

[CoachBob 0]

or go here

 

http://hipwader.com/2003/mayfly-caddis-life-cycle

[Hairstacker 0]

peregrines - That was an outstanding post! :cheers: It should be stickied somewhere here.

 

-- Mike

[falconsprint 0]

I want to thank you all for taking the time to type all the information about fly stages.

There is plenty of information to study.

I printed the info out and going to sit down and read.

This sure looks like a good start in understanding the life cycle.

 

THANKS TO ALL

 

P.S. I did say I lived in South Western Pennsylvania and fish the tailwaters of the Yougheny River, Ohiopyle, and Dunbar Creek.

VERY BEAUTIFUL and well stocked by the Pennsylvania Fish Commision.

[CoachBob 0]

Some hatch charts for PA:

http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/flyfishers/psuff_hatch.htm

http://www.flyfisher.com/Fly_Fishing_Hatch...ll_Streams.html

http://www.flyshack.com/HatchChart.aspx?RiverID=1653

http://www.riversflyfishing.com/tulpehocken_creek.php#hatch

http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/p/j/pjm2...atchcharts.html

 

 

[falconsprint 0]

Thanks to:

 

peregrines

CoachBob

Hairstacker

 

Thanks for your time and input.

It is very much appreciated.

 

:thumbup:

falconsprint & Louis (#1 grandson)