Dry Flies

Late Winter on into Early Spring is a time of transition for the wild rainbow trout and steelhead that swim in the many rivers and streams coursing through the Central Valley.  Longer days and warm temperatures bring a rise in bug and fish activity, but hatches this time of year can be shotty and sporadic making the opportunity for an angler to target rising fish with a dry fly very hit and miss.  On the positive side, rainbows and steelhead that spawn in the late winter or early spring will be fresh from the spawn, hungry and feeding opportunistically.  In addition, many of the rivers and streams in the area host healthy populations of large stoneflies that begin to crawl from their homes in the river cobble to bushes and grasses along the river bank where they hatch and dry their wings in preparation for their mating activity.  This includes the infamous Skwala Stonefly, a yellowish olive stonefly that the Yuba River rainbows really chow down on.  While the Skwala is a stonefly seen around the world on many rivers, creeks and streams, its our lovely Yuba River that has the biggest Skwalas, biggest hatch and longest hatch in the world. Lasting from late Dec on into mid/late March.  There have been days where we could fish skwalas dries all day long and when that happens it is a true treat. You better go play the lotto.  During the entire process hungry rainbows and steelhead are looking for these bugs and will feed on them readily at any opportunity.  Large insects, sporadic hatches and opportunistic fish make the Late Winter to Early Spring a perfect time to break out your favorite type of dry fly to tie and fish those large attractors!


-Captain Brian-
The Spey Mechanic