Fly Fishing - Mayflies

Mayflies - Fly Fishing
Guide to Imitating
Aquatic Insects

Learn how to identify mayflies
Determine the stage of the hatch
Learn how to imitate their behavior
How, when and where they hatch
Identify Clinger, crawler, burrower & swimming nymphs

The objective is to assist you in identifying which aquatic insects the trout are feeding on, selecting
an imitation that matches it and presenting the imitation in such a manner as to fool the trout into
thinking it is the real thing.

M901S Isonychia bicolor or Slate Drake Spinner

By far the most imitated specie of aquatic insect is the mayfly. You will see the order
“Ephemeroptera” a big word meaning, “short-lived winged insect”- (ephemero-meaning short lived)
and (ptera-meaning winged). In the United States there are several hundred species of them.
When mayflies are hatching and trout are rising, it is a fly fishers dream that came true. Day in and
day out, however, this is not the case. To begin with, in the U. S., with few exceptions, mayflies only
hatch between the months of March and November and this long period of time occurs only in the
southernmost areas of the U.S. where trout waters exist. On most streams, the majority of the
hatches occur during the months of May, June and July. When hatches do occur, many of them only
last for a short period of time, a few days or less in many cases. During the hatch mayfly duns may
emerge for only an hour or two and not return to the water as a spinner until dark or even well into
the night in some cases. So all things considered, on any given stream or lake, trout are only feeding
on hatching mayfly duns or spinners a very small percentage of time. When they do, you want to
be ready for them.

Click to see a list of mayflies covered

These are just a few still images captured from our
digital videos of some mayflies. The purpose is to show
you pictures of what your flies should represent. They
cannot possibly show what our DVDs show because
the DVDs show the video of the flies in real life from
numerous angles.
If you simply tie on a fly without any idea of what the
trout may be interested in and hope for the best, you
are counting on pure luck for success. If you do not
know where and how to present the fly to imitate the
real deal, then you are in worse shape, even though
you may occasionally succeed.

Click to see a list of mayflies covered

Nymphs, nymphs and more nymphs?

Just how small do blue-winged olives
get?

Do the tomato eyes help identify
this mayfly?

No hind wing, two tails? If you
don't know this mayfly, you
really need help.

Does this detail shot help?

The yellow spots on the eyes
are our studio lights, not the
Slate Drake's eyes.

M2701 Leucrocuta species
Little Yellow Quill?
Yes, No?

This White Drake - M2901
Ephoron, just changed from a
  dun to a spinner.

American March Brown

Can you identify this one?

Caught in our net

If you found this mayfly on a
stream, would you know which
fly to use and how to fish it?

Fly Fishing DVD

Does your fake spinners
look like this real one from
the bottom view?

Get Your Ph.D. in Fly-Fishing Right Here!

Can you identify this mayfly?

This Light Cahill (or is it a Cream Cahill) is in
the process of changing from a dun to a
spinner. Can you identify the species? If not,
you need our DVD.

We show the details. These are still
images. Our DVD shows live images of
mayflies never before shown.

Can you identify this dun?

Hey big boy or is this a girl?

This is a big mayfly. Do you know
which one?

Closeup shots of every detail are shown.

It is not easy to catch a mayfly spinner without
breaking its long tails.

M2001 Maccaffertium vicarium
American March Brown

This is a Blue-Winged Olive that Angie found
under a leaf. It is about a hook size 20.

M2004 Stenacron interpunctatum Light Cahill