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3. Emerging Dragonflies

Whle fishing the West Branch of the Ausable River this weekend I came across an area that had dozens of empty dragon fly nypmh shucks on the rocks. There was a small feeder stream right by this area.

I fished another spot where there was a small feeder stream, and again, there were dozens of empty dragonfly nymph shuck here too.

These were the only places I saw any empty shucks and was just curious if it wasn't just a coincidence that both areas where the nymphs chose to emerge were near feeder streams?

Hi Alex,

I'm sure there are reasons why aquatic insects utilize certain emergence sites and not others, but those reasons aren't always obvious. I've often noticed large olive-brown dragonfly nymphs emerging in late May and early June on some of my favorite Pocono streams, but I've never been curious enough to investigate the species or their habits. And I didn't notice an association with feeder streams. There's just so much hatching at that time of year that they didn't seem important. Have you ever imitated the nymphs and fished them around the emergence sites?

Although I have some wool versions in my box, I've never used dragon nymphs for trout. Like you said, there's always so much other activity going on I ignore them. I've always thought of dragonfly emergences as more of a scattered occurrence, where one would emerge here, one there, one over there, etc. But this was more like an actual migration and I wonder if the trout might take advantage of "high" numbers of them moving towards a certain area.

One other similarity was that both sites were 5-30 feet upstream of the feeder. I didn't see any downstream. Guess from now on when I'm fishing near any feeders I'll have to drift some dragon nymphs upstream of them and see if anything happens

I'm not sure how an area upstream of a feeder would constitute a draw for emerging nymphs, but you never know. Give those dragonfly nymphs a try if you get a chance. I'm sure trout grab them whenever they can, and concentrations of the nymphs should get the attention of some of the local bullies.

Hi,

Since Dragonflies are basically stillwater critters, probably the creek creates a relative still pool where the dragon nymphs congregrate. They probably crawl the shortest distance. Also while they will molt almost anywhere they like to latch into emergent veggies.

BTW ondonta being stillwater critters there is a substantial body of stillwater literature on them as well as other such critters. One of many sources is 'The Gilly' A Flyfisher's Guide Edited by Alfred G. Davy ISBN 0-88925-638-1.

Might also add: If one discards resivoirs and other rapidly fluctuating lakes, much of the best fishing comes from stalking along the shore. Kinda like stream fishing, though there must be much more emphasis on quality and style of the flys and manipulation of the cast.

WildcatRob

Hi,

Since Dragonflies are basically stillwater critters, probably the creek creates a relative still pool where the dragon nymphs congregrate. They probably crawl the shortest distance. Also while they will molt almost anywhere they like to latch into emergent veggies.

BTW ondonta being stillwater critters there is a substantial body of stillwater literature on them as well as other such critters. One of many sources is 'The Gilly' A Flyfisher's Guide Edited by Alfred G. Davy ISBN 0-88925-638-1.

Might also add: If one discards rapidly fluctuating lakes, much of the best fishing comes from stalking along the shore. Kinda like stream fishing, though there must be much more emphasis on quality and style of the flies and manipulation of the cast.

WildcatRob