Blue-winged Olives
Baetis
Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.
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Shad Flies
Like most common names,"Shad Fly" can refer to more than one taxon. They're previewed below, along with 3 specimens. For more detail click through to the scientific names.
Mayfly Species Ephemera guttulata
These are often called Shad Flies.
Ephemera guttulata's size, numbers, and hatching characteristics have made it a favorite of fly fishermen since the sport first came to North American waters.
It is on par with the Midwest's Hexagenia limbata hatch for its ability to lure huge piscivorous brown trout to eat insects at the surface once a year. The special charm of the Green Drake hatch is that it often takes place during pleasant spring afternoons. It can be challenging because the large flies are easy for trout to inspect in the daylight and they feed very selectively, especially late in the hatch. The huge difference in appearance between green drake duns and the spinners, white-bodied "coffin flies," makes them a peculiarity among major hatches.
The Green Drakes are on the decline due to environmental degradation.
It is on par with the Midwest's Hexagenia limbata hatch for its ability to lure huge piscivorous brown trout to eat insects at the surface once a year. The special charm of the Green Drake hatch is that it often takes place during pleasant spring afternoons. It can be challenging because the large flies are easy for trout to inspect in the daylight and they feed very selectively, especially late in the hatch. The huge difference in appearance between green drake duns and the spinners, white-bodied "coffin flies," makes them a peculiarity among major hatches.
The Green Drakes are on the decline due to environmental degradation.
For years after I started this website, I was eagerly hoping to find a green drake to add to the collection, but I was never in the right part of the world at the right time. It finally happened on June 1st, 2007.
This spinner was the only member of its species I saw all night during an incredibly thick and tricky mixed hatch on Penn's Creek a few days before the real start of its famous green drake hatch.
See 1 more specimen...
Caddisfly Species Brachycentrus appalachia
These are sometimes called Shad Flies.
This is a "wind-shield wiper" hatch -- it slows traffic on the freeway which winds through the valleys of several famous trout streams in the Catskills, which have thick hatches of the Apple Caddis in the Spring.
The common name comes from the bright apple-green color of its abdomen.
The common name comes from the bright apple-green color of its abdomen.
I captured this specimen in the same color as this photograph, during its egg-laying flight. The emergers are much lighter.
See 2 more specimens...
Caddisfly Species Brachycentrus numerosus
These are sometimes called Shad Flies.
In Caddisflies, Gary LaFontaine attributed the famous spring hatch on the Beaverkill (now known as the "Apple Caddis") to this species. After that publication, entomologists described that major hatch as a new species -- Brachycentrus appalachia.
Brachycentrus numerosus is probably still important in many locations.
Brachycentrus numerosus is probably still important in many locations.
References
- LaFontaine, Gary. 1981. Caddisflies. The Lyons Press.