With warm temperatures, mayfly hatches have become more of an evening phenomenon this week. In those cooling, low-light hours, when feeding bats and birds cruise above the streams, trout are rising with abandon, finding the fat, high-protein mayflies irresistible.
I love the magic of mayflies, their ephemeral life, their inability to bite, and their all-good value to the natural world and our flyfishing tradition. For several years I collected their nymphs, observing them in a big aquarium at home, marveling at their variety of size, color and subtle behaviors, and deciphering with a microscope their sometimes-difficult identities. Seeing them morph, mature and fly off into my living room proved an education in entomology — and raised more than a few visitors' eyebrows.
Jim Bender suggests size 16-18 sulphurs, sulphur spinners and lighter caddis, along with size 18-20 blue-winged olives to match the current hatches. But the emerging mayfly right now is Stenonema vicarium, the March Brown, which provides some of the most enjoyable flyfishing of the year.
Their immature nymphs typically migrate along the bottom into shallows just prior to emerging. A weighted fly that imitates their crawling behavior can be very effective. As they rise to the surface to rid themselves of their casings and open their sailboat-like wings, they float vulnerably in the surface film, struggling to get upright, creating enough enticing disturbance to alert every nearby trout and stimulate dramatic strikes. It's then that a good emerger pattern can prove deadly.
Once they free themselves from their casings, the adults look totally different — their long, tan abdomens banded brown, and their wings slanted back noticeably at more of an angle than other mayflies. They're big and consequently all the more appetizing to trout as they drift along, preparing to take their first flight.
The March Brown's name has nothing to do with our March. It was borrowed in tribute to its greatness from the most popular mayfly hatch in Britain, where our flyfishing tradition began. The two mayflies are actually totally different species. Their common denominator is the extraordinary angling opportunity they provide.
March Browns are also much appreciated because they emerge sporadically from afternoon into the evening, providing several hours of leisurely fishing. So many other hatches are intense but all too brief. Until mid-June, we can depend on them to entice trout to rise spectacularly for us.
Area fishing hotspots
The Lower Forty notes some fabulous inland freshwater bass fishing. Tom Blailock and Tom Harrison recently fished the lower Deerfield River together. Mid-May on that water has some of the best smallmouth fishing in the Northeast. Oakham's Jim Peluso found them aggressively hitting at Quabbin, too, as they defend their spawning beds in 5-10 feet of water. Wooly buggers, white marabou muddlers and zonkers are excellent flies now.
The Lower Forty recommends Corporation Beach in Cape Cod Bay for superb saltwater action. At Nobscusset Harbor on the south side, Shrewsbury's Gary Aho and Paxton's Ron Pasternak have been taking many fish — mostly schoolies with occasional keepers — in very shallow water adjacent to the beach. Fly pattern has been less important than size and profile.
Bender notes that the elusive cinder worm hatch on Cape Cod has been disappointing compared to Rhode Island, where it has been noteworthy. Dudley's Todd Girard fished Ninigret Pond and found stripers swirling to the hatch, finding his Crease fly irresistible.
Fluke facts
Fluke or summer flounder are hitting. A curious member of the “left-eye” flounders, they're readily distinguished from their “right-eyed” winter flounder cousins. During their larval stage, the fluke's right eye starts migrating to the left side of its head. That side eventually becomes the fish's back, amazingly flattening out like a pancake and containing all of its colorful markings. Like chameleons, they're able to change their color and pattern to match the bottom. Fluke teeth are also asymmetrical, being much more strongly developed on their blind, bottom side on which they feed.
Mike Wade at Watch Hill Outfitters in Rhode Island is raving about this year's fluke fishing within the triangle of Misquamicut, Block Island and Watch Hill Light. Warmer winter temperatures had a very beneficial effect there. Fluke and their forage fish didn't have to migrate as far as usual. Draggers were taking herring and mackerel even during winter off Block Island. Fluke consequently expended less energy and maintained greater weight. In addition, not having to travel to the canyons or southern sea lice zones, they weren't parasitized much, either. This fluke season could be exceptional.
Calendar
Tomorrow and Sunday — Safari 3-D League Traditional Rendezvous, Auburn Sportsman's Club, 50 Elm St., Auburn. Thirty targets on a challenging course for primitive, longbow, recurve, crossbow and recurve unlimited classes. Cost: $10/round. Veterans shoot free. Registration 7-11 a.m. Onsite camping available; dealers welcome. Info: Ron Kazlauskas, (508) 839-0098.
Tomorrow — SL Gunshop Open House, 443 Fitchburg Road, Mason, N.H., 9 a.m-3 p.m. Thirty manufacturers on site with new products. Info: (603) 878-2854.
Tomorrow — Birding South Quabbin, Forbush Bird Club. Meet at the DCR Quabbin Visitors' Center, off Route 9, Belchertown at 7 a.m. Leader: John Shea, (508) 752-4364, johnshea.1@verizon.net.
Sunday — Baypath Arena Shoot, 3-D Safari League. Info: Ron Kazlauskas, (508) 839-0098.
Sunday — Birding Barre Falls Dam and Rutland State Park, Forbush Bird Club. Meet at the parking lot above the dam, south of Route 62 in Hubbardston at 7 a.m. Leaders: Dave Grant, (508) 852-3243; Donna Schilling, (978) 263-9434, dschillig15@verizon.net.
Sunday — Hike along the Nashua River. Leominster Trail Stewards celebrate American Hiking Society's National Trails Day. Noon to 3 p.m. Easy route (four miles) through a native floodplain forest containing several wildlife habitats and scenic vistas, across Fall Brook to Johnny Ro Veteran's Park and back. Meet behind Babe Ruth field parking lot at noon, Lancaster Street, Leominster.
Thursday — 15-shot adult 3-D League runs every Thursday evening through Aug. 16, Wickaboag Sportsmen's Club. Handicaps, prizes, awards dinner. $10 weekly entry. To sign up for the league, call Scott Lariviere at (774) 200-1796.
June 9 — Central Mass Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation banquet, Spencer Knights of Columbus Hall, 10 Meadow St., Spencer. Doors open at 5 p.m. with steak or chicken dinner served at 6:30. Minimum of 10 guns will be raffled. Info: Keith Fritze, (774) 272-1274, kfritze@charter.net.
