photo from www.biopix.com
photo from www.moscaclubvallesina.itFor me, the new spring means one thing. Paraleptophlebia or the blue quill. My favorite bug and the first decent sized mayfly to arrive on most streams in the Northeast can bring about some excellent fishing. Thank God these pretty little bugs hatch at a time when the trout we so love to catch just haven’t quite caught on to us yet, not to mention they are still working on fattening up from the tough winter.
Paraleptophlebia belong to the family Leptophlebiidae, the so called feeble-legged crawlers. For anglers attention there may be two species that can hatch in sufficient quantities but the differences in their appearance are subtle. The species that northeastern anglers may encounter are Adoptiva and Mollis.
Paraleps are around 6-8mm in length which puts them on a size 16 to 18 hook. Their bodies are brown to brown-grey and they have grey to dark grey wings and three tails. Paraleptophlebia Adoptiva is the predominant species and usually starts to hatch when the water temperature reaches around 50 degrees and stays that way for a short time. During my observations the best hatching activity occurs in the middle of the day from about noon until 3. Floating nymphs and emerger patterns can be absolutely deadly the first hour when these tiny nymphs begin to crawl out of the rocks and swim to the surface where they remain until they are able to free themselves from their nymphal shucks. It may be just my poor observations during other hatches but I have observed high cripple and stillborn rates with this species and make no doubt fish eat them. Most of the time these bugs are found in gently moving water but sometimes have problems taking flight and are swept into faster currents but due to their small size most fish will not venture very far from their lanes to eat them. Spinner falls usually occur earlier in the day than most others but as the hatching progresses it gets later and later until it begins to happen in the evening and even in the morning on occasion. This hatch usually lasts one to two weeks.
Paraleptophlebia belong to the family Leptophlebiidae, the so called feeble-legged crawlers. For anglers attention there may be two species that can hatch in sufficient quantities but the differences in their appearance are subtle. The species that northeastern anglers may encounter are Adoptiva and Mollis.
Paraleps are around 6-8mm in length which puts them on a size 16 to 18 hook. Their bodies are brown to brown-grey and they have grey to dark grey wings and three tails. Paraleptophlebia Adoptiva is the predominant species and usually starts to hatch when the water temperature reaches around 50 degrees and stays that way for a short time. During my observations the best hatching activity occurs in the middle of the day from about noon until 3. Floating nymphs and emerger patterns can be absolutely deadly the first hour when these tiny nymphs begin to crawl out of the rocks and swim to the surface where they remain until they are able to free themselves from their nymphal shucks. It may be just my poor observations during other hatches but I have observed high cripple and stillborn rates with this species and make no doubt fish eat them. Most of the time these bugs are found in gently moving water but sometimes have problems taking flight and are swept into faster currents but due to their small size most fish will not venture very far from their lanes to eat them. Spinner falls usually occur earlier in the day than most others but as the hatching progresses it gets later and later until it begins to happen in the evening and even in the morning on occasion. This hatch usually lasts one to two weeks.
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