Fly Fishing: July Hatches

July. What a great time for fly fishing fun. The water is clear even if it is a bit high yet and its temperature is warming, causing bugs to hatch and fish to eat. Fish that are eating bugs is a good invention for dry fly anglers and now is the time to get on the water, leaving worries behind while casting dry flies upstream and across to rising trout.

What's emerging? Just about everything! Mayflies will be larger than their early season cousins, stoneflies are active in various sizes and colors and caddis are abundant. Midges are always around; large crane fly adults will confuse many anglers, as they appear to be Pale Morning Duns (PMD) or some other mayfly.

Mayfly hatches will include Green Drakes, Brown Drakes, Callabeatis, PMD's and other larger mayflies. (Toward the end of the month we'll start to see tiny Trico's, but we'll save them for another article.) Carry mayfly adults from size #10-18 in olive, cream or tan. An Adams is always useful. Red Quill, PMD Thorax, Colorado Green Drake and other standard dry flies should be in your box. Attractor patterns like H&L Variant, Royal Wulff and Humpy will also work very well in faster waters.

Caddis adults of all sorts are useful. A Fluttering Caddis, Elk Hair Caddis, Partridge Caddis, Hi-Vis Caddis or Goddard Caddis will all tempt trout to the surface. Attractors such as Coachman Trude, Dale's Hi-Vis Trude and so on are also useful, easy to see and tricky for trout. Use flies from #10-16 for the most part in olive, tan, orange or yellow.

Stonefly adult patterns like a Stimulator, which will also work well when searching the water during the bright part of the day, work great. Little Yellow Sallies imitate small Golden Stones and work very well. Stimulators should be from size #8-14, and Little Yellow Sallies either #14 or #16. Yellow and orange are great colors.

Nymphs can be more generic, or as specific as an angler would like. Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, Golden Stonefly, Flash Back Caddis Nymph, Caddis Larva and Copper John nymphs with or without beads are useful. As a rule-of-thumb, use smaller flies in shallow water and larger flies in deeper, faster water. Get nymphs near the bottom and keep them there to attract takes. Nymphs are sort of brownish-brown, if you know what I mean, so use dark colored flies, which are more visible to fish in deeper water. Black is a good color as well. Stones will vary from #8-16, while caddis imitations should be #12-18. Certain caddis larvae are screaming green, so something tie with chartreuse is great. Hare's ear nymphs in olive, tan, black, orange and so on will work well.

Soft hackle flies work great to imitate almost any emerging insect, and anglers should carry and fish a few of them. Partridge and orange, grouse and green, grey hackle yellow and peacock and brown all work great. Fish them down and across, allowing the current to swing the fly in front of hungry trout. They'll take it. Try using a soft hackle as a dropper on any dry fly, too; it works!

Where do we fish these emergences? On almost any Colorado freestone stream, that's where. Popular Front Range streams include the Poudre, Big Thompson, St. Vrain, Boulder Creek, South Platte, Arkansas and Rio Grande. Don't forget the small tributaries. On the Western Slope we have the Yampa, White, Colorado, Blue, Gunnison, Roaring Fork, Eagle, Frying Pan, Delores, San Juan, Conejos, Animas and so on. Look at the map and find a stream close or far. When you get there, turn over a few rocks to see what bugs are most active.

If wing pads on mayfly nymphs are black they are ready to emerge. Caddis larvae in cases will be on top of rocks as the bugs pupate and prepare to emerge. Stones will be close to shore. Often we'll find their shucks on rocks, twigs or branches along the banks, which tells us they've emerged.

Watch the water for changes. When fish rise to emerging bugs they'll be in certain parts of the river, often near the banks in shallow water. This allows them better and easier access to drifting insects, which will be invited to lunch.

Find one feeding fish. Observe the rise form and determine the current seam the bugs are drifting in. Put the fly in that current upstream of the fish and allow the fly to drift with the current to the fish. Set the hook in the same manner the fish eats the fly - quick, or slow.

Remember: rising fish - or any fish that is feeding - can be fooled with a fly! That's the good news. The bad? Scared fish don't eat, as they are more concerned for their welfare than food. Wade, cast and fish with caution and care and happily munching fish will happily munch your offering, which will make them unhappy and build memories for you.

Get on the water soon. Leave the highway driving on the road and allow good stream manners to rule the waterways. Have fun out there, enjoying the present, which is just that.