I now own 21 fly boxes. Not that I need another, but I
bought a good number of stonefly flies at Nile Creek Fly Shop and got another box
in the process – they display so nicely. Stonefly flies have become popular in
the past five years because they catch a great number of Vancouver Island
salmonids.
We are fortunate to live in an area where we have both
resident and anadromous salmonids. The former spend their entire lives in
freshwater, the latter spend time in both salt- and fresh-water. Resident fish key
in on the actual food and thus prefer a fly that mimics those insects. People
all across the country know only resident fish and know well that such fish can
be extremely fussy, preferring, for example, only one species of Mayfly nymph, and
if you don’t have the pattern, you will not catch fish. The problem can be even
more difficult for dry flies that mimic adults, particularly their size.
Anadromous fish on the other hand, feed on ocean feed
for part of their lives, feed that may not have any freshwater look alike, and
then feed in freshwater on what they find. The important point is that they are
less selective about what they will glom; that is the reason we use attractor
patterns for steelhead. They feed aggressively, and that colourful chunk of ‘food’
swinging quickly across their vision stimulates an instinctive feeding/aggression
- we don’t care which - whack at the fly. The speed with which the patterns
move also makes the fish make an immediate decision to bite, rather than leisurely
picking off a tumbling bug, some of which they may miss anyway.
And that is where stonefly patterns come in. There are
stoneflies in the water, along with Mayflies, Damsel flies, Caddis flies and so
on. And specific nymph patterns are all for wet fly fishing rather than dry fly
fishing, an important distinction. The technical form of nymph fishing is sometimes
called: high stick nymphing. On Van Isle there are many rivers where you can do
this in the late spring, the Elk being a well-known example, but only one of a
number of such fisheries. Get out there and look for others.
While you can buy stoneflies of any size, or make even
smaller flies, actual stoneflies are often larger. I use size 2 to 8 hooks (and
mostly 4 and 6) and simply pick up a bunch of different colours, with or
without carapaces, and wriggly legs, based on past success. Technically they
are called searching patterns, but one that mimics a lot of food in the water,
and targets fish that feed on a variety of food sources in the ocean and
rivers.
So, stoneflies will catch cutthroat, Dolly Varden and
steelhead along with some resident fish. I think the larger size works better
for fish that have max a second or two to see the fly and attack it. Large is
better in the swing. Technically nymphs don’t ‘swing’ but any kind of
volitional food swims, and thus swing/strip is the action of a living thing.
Stoneflies are used in the warm months. Look at the
rocks at your feet. You want algae, that slippery stuff – but not didymo – and to
find nymphs eating their way across the rocks. Most rivers will have nymphs
from May to September. Once you see there are no more nymphs, it is time to
move to a different fly. Also, when salmon come in, they push other salmonids
aside, and make them switch to target salmon eggs. It is quite distinct when
the season’s nymphs are all hatched that anadromous fish stop biting on stonefly
flies, and it is time to switch to attractors that prevail through the winter
until May when you once again see the new season’s nymphs on the rocks. And switch
to dry flies only when you see fish on the surface.
Also note that in canyon rivers, ones that receive
melted snowpack, and infertile ones, you will find that attractor patterns out-fish
nymph patterns. Part of the issue is the extra water, flash floods, and no
algae for nymphs to eat. Extra water has these effects: there is more volume
and thus the concentration of fish is lower; the water is moving faster and
prevents fly penetration; and, it erases choke points that are key for catching
fish. Fish are on the downstream side of a choke point (or in the tailout
above), and in most rivers, other than canyon ones, these can be as much as a
half mile apart. Get to know your river, get to know it’s hotspots. And make
haste between them.
Note also that higher water means the danger of being
swept away is greater. In addition, fewer spots allow you to cross. And because
river beds change over the winter, you need to make sure each spring that where
you want to cross still is a crossable spot, and not another foot or two
deeper. And, if you can only cross a river here and there, take account of that
fact in planning your day. It may be better/safer to bushwhack into a spot,
come back to the trail, and bushwhack into the next spot.
Finally, choice of fly line is important. Full sink
for winter rivers, with their deeper, faster water. Use a long sink tip fly-
and sinking running- line for the crossover months, and finally, a floating
line with a lighter sink tip for lowest water. Take along a second reel with
your choice of a second fly line. It is very annoying to find yourself hitting
bottom with a line with too much sink, and breaking off flies, as well as
leaders and attached sink tips. The stretch of fly line – as much as 20 feet –
that results from being stuck on something that won’t give way, can ruin it.
