Classic Spring Dry Fly Fishing

Snowing hard. Huge flakes like snowballs. It’s 33 degrees. The flakes are falling straight down. Good news, no wind! We sit in the truck a few minutes, just to see which way things might go. There’s a hint of blue above the clouds. Perfect dry fly day on the Stillwater.

Baetis are back with the cold, wet weather. Look for the hatch about 1:30. We got lucky last Wednesday. The Baetis hatch turned into a March Brown hatch. Wound up the evening with a Caddis hatch. Fish were rising for a good four hours. We did get rained on and snowed on. That was the best part!

Try a #16 BWO parachute, #14 brown parachute (a trailing shuck on it will kill) and a #14 elk hair caddis, black body and light wing. A Hare’s Ear with a soft hackle and the Prince Nymph are winners subsurface.

Nice fish on a cold spring day, George!

Christina’s first trout. On a #16 BWO, no less. Born to fish the dry.

 

Mayflie Time!

Ate the brown parachute.

Took the BWO.

Perfect spring day for a hatch!

The baetis (BWO) have finally showed up! And so have the March Browns! Double whammy on the Stillwater right now. Nymphing has slowed down and the streamer bite if off (38 degree water on Wednesday). But the dry fly fishing is great in the afternoon. Soft hackles also worked well under the hatch.