February is here! We are starting to turn the corner on winter. It is time to think about stoneflies. I am not talking about the large stoneflies that come later in the spring. These are the early stoneflies that are much smaller than their larger relatives. These small stoneflies can get the trout active even on the coldest late winter day.

I was out on the Pequest Today, February 11, 2007. Fishing was really good. It was around three and there it was. There was a stonefly fluttering on the surface. I haven’t been so excited to see a fly in my life! I also saw three more stoneflies today. This is awesome it’s like we are going to finally move ahead in seasons. I need spring to come badly.

I have witnessed blizzard like hatches of these flies of most freestone streams in the North Eastern United States. I have been on rivers in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey and I have seen many holdover and wild trout slashing at these small flies. These flies skitter across the surface of the river creating a wakes that trout can sense. These flies are the awakening of trout that have lain on the bottoms of pools for the past few months.

I get excited when I see the start of the stoneflies. I know that the beginning of the more popular mayfly and caddis fly hatches are not too far away. I know that the slower fishing in December and January will be replaced with the fast paced angling that is to be had in April.

On many days you will see the adults crawling on the rocks and snow. This is a sure sign that there are lots of nymphs swimming around under the water. Sometimes the trout really pay attention to this hatch. Other times you can have thousands of these stoneflies hatching and it seems like there isn’t a trout feeding on them.

My explanation is simple. Stoneflies migrate to the stream bank in order to hatch. When hatching begins, they detach themselves from the rocks and make their way to the shore. When they are near the shore they swim to the surface. When they get near the rocks on the shore they crawl on them and hatch into adults. There are rivers that these stoneflies are of more importance.

In my experience I have found that these stoneflies are of greater importance on smaller rivers. By smaller rivers, I am talking about rivers like the South Brach of the Raritan, the Pequest in NJ and the Willowemoc Creek in NY. They are also of great importance on small wild trout streams as well. The trout will eagerly take the adults and nymphs as they struggle to get to the shore. These are streams that are less than Sixty feet in most places with a moderate to fast current. The rockier the bottom the river is, the more stoneflies you will see hatching.

In rivers that are narrower these nymphs can get washed from the shore and back into the main channel of the river. It is then that they become available to the trout.

On larger rivers like the Housatonic River and West Branch of the Delaware they swim around in back eddies and eventually hatch. Even during periods of heavy hatching most of these stoneflies are not available to the trout as nymphs. If the trout never sees the stoneflies, they will not feed on them. In these larger rivers they are not washed back into the main channel and are not in the trout’s sight.

When fishing this hatch take into account some of the explanation that I have given for the fish’s reaction to the flies. In some rivers trout feed heavily on these bugs and in others they don’t at all. I know that we are all building up like a volcano and when trout season comes it will be an eruption or sorts. Be ready this is only the appetizer.

Pictures of the insects, both adults and nymphs will be up shortly. Keep checking back.