INSECTS AND FLY FISHING

Philosophies on angling vary enormously. Most fly fishermen stick to a selection of flies that have a long history of success: Quill Gordon, Cahill, Light Cahill, Grey Fox, Royal Coachman, Red Quill, Hendrickson, etc., and they use a sampling of patterns that embraces the "imitation," "impressions," and "attractor" theories. These patterns will take all species of stream trout anywhere in North America—at times. In terms of the "right" fly, these fishermen are the most tolerant and broad—minded.

Farther up the scale are the anglers who discover by inquiry or observation, the most effective patterns for taking fish in the streams of their particular choice. As a rule, the choice of flies here becomes somewhat more specific and will include both "imitation" and "impression" theories in matching the naturals.

At the topmost level are those few scholar-fishermen who investigate the fly life of one particular stream, collecting naturals as they hatch, identifying them precisely, filling notebooks with the emergence dates of each species and the various times of day they appear, and with annotations as to type of weather, wind, humidity and barometric pressure coinciding with each appearance. Since there are several hundred species of May flies, Caddis flies, stone flies, and other insects favored by trout as food, this is an onerous task for all but the dedicated man.

The Treasure of Angling by Larry Koller

A fly angler must now decide just how far he cares to go in exploring the intricacies of "matching the hatch," because with these scientific anglers, "standard" fly patterns simply do not exist. These men create endlessly to match the hatch in minute detail; they catch trout, and they publish their theories in books. Their challenge is in exact imitation, and the time they consume in doing so is enormous.

Theodore Gordon, who was America's first dedicated angler-entomologist, finally realized that it was a hopeless task to precisely imitate the delicate fairy quality of adult flies in materials of fur, feathers, silk, wool and steel. He wrote in one of his "Little Talks" in the Gazette:

"The more I study the imitation of the natural fly and the various books on the subject (or which treat of it), the surer I am that the trout have a wonderful eye for color but a very indifferent notion of form. There is any quantity of evidence; but take your mayfly alone and note the curious bastards that mistake for a natural, particularly hackle patterns that are deadly because so nearly right in color."

After years of scientifically studying insects, Theodore Gordon came up with the one fly by which we remember him, the Quill Gordon, which does not represent a definite species of May fly. Rather, it serves to imitate a group of early season May flies having similar colors, generally a smoky, pale, blue, gray.

Today some anglers such as Doug Swisher and Carl Richards argue that form is necessary along with the proper color, and they may be right. I have had good success with their flies, but at the same time I have caught trout on the old standard hackle patterns. It may be a good idea to carry some types of all the patterns and buy a larger vest.