The big ones are coming, but when?

Peter J. Kolesar
Posted 8/21/12

After the hard winter that we’ve just endured, fly fisherman up and down the Delaware are anxiously awaiting the “big ones.” I don’t mean big fish. I mean big bugs, the first really …

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The big ones are coming, but when?

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After the hard winter that we’ve just endured, fly fisherman up and down the Delaware are anxiously awaiting the “big ones.” I don’t mean big fish. I mean big bugs, the first really significant hatch of large mayflies: the Hendricksons. Once they appear in force, these lovely mayflies can get the trout into a feeding frenzy all along the Delaware, its East and West branches and tributaries like the Lackawaxen and the Mongaup, not to mention the hallowed waters of the Beaverkill and Willowemoc.

Hendricksons have grayish wings and pinkish or grayish bodies, depending on their sex. Their size varies as well, correlating with hook sizes in the range of 12 to 14. Their entomological name is the elegant, but a bit off-putting, ephemerella subvaria. Their modern moniker was attached to them in 1915 by Roy Steenrod, one of the Catskills’ great fly-fishing masters, who also designed the classic Hendrickson imitation dry fly. Here I pass along a few basics about the Hendrickson for those who are just getting into the “quiet sport.”

“Where and when are the Hendricksons likely to appear? “Where” is the simpler issue, for these insects prefer slower or moderately moving water, so don’t go looking for them in the fastest riffles or rapids. “When” is trickier. The standard answer suggests that the Hendricksons appear when the river temperature comes up to about 52 to 55°F for several days. My longtime friend and dean of guides on the Delaware, Bill Fraser, says that when the minimum water temperature on the previous day hits 50° for couple of days running, the hatch will be on. Luckily, these days it’s easy to pick up the previous days’ temperatures from the online USGS gages. Depending on where you plan to fish, you’d look at the gage for Callicoon, Lordville or Hale Eddy. The tremendous variability of river temperatures from one year to another means that the Hendricksons’ first emergence too will vary from year to year.

Being a “quant,” I thought some hard data would be a help. Unfortunately, few fisherman or guides keep careful records, and my queries about the date of first emergence have not been fruitful. But from the Lordville gage I’ve determined that the date when the average temperature first hit 52° steadily in the years 2010 to 2014 respectively was April 21, May 9, April 14, April 25 and May 6. Quite a spread. So it’s no wonder that a casual fisherman, like myself, can go for years without hitting the Hendricksons just right. (“Should have been here yesterday!”)

Not everyone is in complete agreement on the temperature theory. Ken Tutalo, owner and head guide of the Baxter House in Roscoe, believes that the hatches are more linked to daylight, and can be depended on to be in progress in the first week of May.

Once it starts, the hatch can persist for several weeks, so you do have a shot—especially if you can get intelligence that the hatch is on. Again, the Internet is a big help. Consult the daily fishing reports posted by the Baxter House, West Branch Anglers and other local outfitters.

The other aspect to “when” is that the bugs tend to emerge in mid-afternoon, often between 2 and 4 p.m. Fishing on the surface within an emerger, a cripple or dry fly dun imitation can be one of the most exciting fly-fishing experiences possible. There are numerous styles of artificial flies that imitate the Hendrickson. I advise stopping in a fly shop in the vicinity of the place where you intend to fish, and solicit their recommendations. Good luck to us all!

[River advocate Peter J. Kolesar is pinch hitting for Andy Boyar, who is currently out of the area.]

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