white flies on the west canada

[sacco]

well, the good news is that the white flies have arrived.

they should be around middleville right now.

from the rising trout shop:

The first hatch of the males is over in about 10 minutes. Then about one half hour later at dusk, the female begins to emerge. The legs of the female are small and she cannot leave the water. The males immediately fly back to the water to fertilize the females. Mating occurs so fast that the females do not emerge from the dun stage; they discharge fertilized eggs and die in a matter of a few minutes.

Be prepared for this hatch as you have to fish it early in the hatch, as the trout feed so voraciously at the start that they become full and stop feeding before the hatch is over.


the bad news is that chrissy's car went kaput. i'll prolly be spending the next couple evenings looking at cars and fighting salesmen instead.

hopefully when i get back from laborday weekend i'll be able to catch the tail end of the hatch around trenton falls.

[Creekwader]

While a fascinating feat of nature and of course taking place during prime wet wading temperatures, I'm not a big fan of the white fly hatch. Too many naturals on the water make it hard to for you and the fish to distinquish between your fly and the 10 next to it. I like the Black better too because there is usually less volume of flies and therefore easier fishing.

[sacco]

touche.

i think i love the thick hatches as much for the whole experience.

there's just something magical about being in the middle of such a throng of beautiful flies, while the trout go ballistic all around you.

[Muddler Mike]

I've found West Canada's white fly hatch to be pretty tough to fish. by the time they start hatching there isn't many other bugs on the water but it's so dark that I have a hard time seeing my fly. Combine difficult vision with prolific bug activity and I find myself very frustrated. Sometimes it's more fun swinging big 'buggers in the riffles then trying to match the hatch :headbang:

just my $0.02

Muddler

[Creekwader]

A tactic that I've had some success with at dusk or darker during the heavy hatches/spinner falls is to rip a big streamer just under the surface. Heavy hatches tend to bring up all the fish in the river including baitfish and big browns will smash them while they're feeding on the flies. Something that pushes water like a muddler or a Carrie Stevens style big trolling streamer is the best.

[protocoldroid]

maybe it's too late and the fish are all full... but.....

I saw quite the swarm-o-white-flies just downstream of where west canada meets cincinnatti around dusk saturday night sept 18th. It is gorgeous! Saw lots of white flies dying and spinning down to the surface of the water. For the first 90 minutes or so, I didn't see any rising fish, but... plenty of falling flies. I caught ahold of a common shiner on a hares ear nymph... And switched to a elk hair caddis (closest thing to the white fly in my limited fly box) after I saw a couple fish take flies off the surface.... Shiners really liked the elk hair caddis too, kept munching them to the point of being all slimy and not floating. I also lost a few flies by not noticing minnows had munched 'em and trying to cast -- oops. anyways, water was pretty high and cloudy and made for a limited traversal of waters for me.

probably more fun when the fish taking flies are trout and not g.d. minnows, but, hey, fun none-the-less

[sacco]

sounds like fun. those little chubs and shiners can be a real PIA.lol. sometimes with the whiteflies the trout go nuts when the males hatch, an hour before the females, and then are pretty much spent by the time the females are hatching and the spinnerfall takes place.