Week of May 11th 2025: Happy Mother's Day
Week of May 11th
To all the moms - enjoy your day. We hope you enjoyed your special day. No words can express the gratitude that moms, grandmothers, stepmoms, mother-in laws, and anyone else who fills the role, deserve. Who would we be without you?
Mother Earth continues to share her bounty as Spring returns with some rain, water in the rivers, and, perhaps most exciting - more bugs in the air! Yes, the mayflies arrived last week in numbers we can report. Light Cahills and Sulphurs arrived right on time and, according to locals and guides, fish are on them.
For many anglers, the Sulphur hatch is a favorite. Their long, grey wings and their bright yellow or orange bodies, often accented with a bulbous yellow egg-sac, make them easy to spot. Here’s an article from Fly Fisherman that explains the minutiae of PMDs (14 - 18), Little Sulphurs (18 - 20), and Sulphurs (12- 14). Suffice to say, and I like the way the author says it, there are “sibling” sulphurs - Ephemerella dorothea infrequens (PMD) and Ephemerella dorothea dorothea (Little Sulphur) and Ephemerella invaria. PMDs hatch mid-late morning while Little Sulphurs can appear throughout the afternoon and into the dark. Catching a mayfly as it floats by, or from the air, is the best way to discern the size and exact hue, and it is best to carry a variety of sizes and colors to meet the occasion when floating dry flies.
Like caddis hatches, the Sulphur and PMD emergers take as many, if not more, than the dun and adult (imago) stages. The contrast between the rusty or brown shuck and the bright yellow or orange, or even pinkish, dun may be the key. We have soft hackle flies, ties with yellow thread and partridge hackle, that work well on local rivers and several patterns of wet and emergers. Spinner patterns are a must if you stick around till dark.
Moving around a bit can help locate not only the hatch, but also fish that are on them. Don’t become fixated on one pattern, either; if it doesn’t produce after some time in a pool with rising fish, change. BWO, midges and Hendricksons are still here and trout are notoriously finicky.
Levels are still up and the color is just reaching tea-brown as of this writing on Sunday morning. Monday, weather-wise, looks nice and is followed by some rain and perhaps storms later into the week. We need the water, but we like to fish, too. Keep some streamers handy if things get a bit high.
See you out there,
Roy B.