The Little Sepia Stonefly (Family Taeniopterigydae)

These early season favorites of Schwiebert, Flick and Jennings are described in their famous angling entomologies but lately haven’t gotten much press. They’re the first sizable insect to hatch in sufficient density to awaken trout from their winter, bottom-feeding torpor. Early stoneflies are active during the middle of even the brightest days, when the sun reaches maximum heating capacity, on rivers where leaf litter is abundant.

Adults measure from 8-16 mm, head to wing tip, but appear larger in flight. Ranging from rusty red to dark brown, with silvery brown wings, they are differentiated from Little Yellows by their short, inconspicuous tails. The larvae, by contrast, have extremely long tails and slender bodies. The hindmost of their two pairs of wing pads spread conspicuously outward.

Stoneflies shed their pellicles out of the water, so pre-hatch migration and egg-laying flights actually provide the action. It’s often effective to anticipate the hatch by casting a small, rust-colored stonefly nymph upstream,to let it sink, and then allow it to swing towards the shallows in imitation of a larva seeking a suitable stone for emergence.

This modest sized mayfly is another staple of early entomologies and eastern hatch charts. I only recently encountered the chestnut colored nymphs in abundance while exploring the shores of cold water lakes. Their favored habitat is boggy water, especially in coastal areas, where they survive by virtue of double, plate-like but filamentous gills. Because they travel in schools, the most productive imitations are lightly weighted nymphs, fished near the bottom at water's edge with a slow, hand-over-hand retrieve. The genus is common in Argentina, where Marcelo Morales designed an imitation that I've adapted to suit local species.

Leptophlebia adults feature a short middle tail,very dark gray wings and dark mahogany bodies. They emerge at midday, on the surface and on projecting vegetation, when water temperatures exceed 50 degrees, and take flight reluctantly. Spinner falls also occur at midday, and because females lay their eggs directly on the water a suitably colored size 14 ComparaDun or No-Hackle serves to replicate both adult stages.

The Gray Winged Yellow Quill (Epeorus vitreus)

Arguably the best known of the early eastern mayflies is the Quill Gordon, named for a remarkably effective pattern which it only vaguely resembles. Its genus has the unusual trait of escaping its nymphal pellicle before ascending to the surface. In streams still teeming with transitory larvae to keep the trout occupied, Epeorus pleuralis is really best fished as a subsurface insect, both in the nymph and emerger stages. For this reason, I look forward to the hatch of a related species, Epeorus vitreus. In New England, where I live and do most of my spring fishing, early June hatches of Gray Winged Yellow Quills bring up more fish, owing to warming temperatures, a cornucopia of hatching insects and the consequent reduced availability of subsurface foods.

Clinging Epeorus nymphs thrive in fast water. They are very flat, with mottled olive to amber bodies, plate-like gills and only two tails. Vitreus adults have the two tails, unmarked wings and heart-shaped femoral markings of pleuralis and are of similar size. But their nearly opalescent wings are much paler, and the body of the male more yellow. By contrast, the female is a pinky amber, decidedly preferred by discriminating trout.

They hatch along the slower margins or at the heads of pools, surfacing at dusk on freestone streams and earlier on cold tailwaters. Pattern choice depends on what else is hatching, and how selective the fish are. My best producer is a simple, Leisenring-style emerger, the Spectrumized Amber Soft Hackle (SASH) on a fine wire hook. I drift it either drag-free in the surface film or wet fly style, by adding minimal weight to the line, casting upstream and bouncing the fly along the bottom with a terminal rise. Most hookups occur at or near the surface.

On fine evenings male spinners appear over their nymph habitat, but females demand perfect, calm conditions for their romantic interludes. Currents gather the spent mayflies along slow water seams, where fish convene to intercept an easy meal. As a result, flies must be placed precisely in the feeding lane and float flush with the surface, utterly devoid of drag. My favorite patterns for both Epeorus spinners satisfy my personal preference for stripped quill bodies.

Important eastern Brachycentrus species include lateralis, sporting dark, mottled gray wings and a grayish tan lateral stripe along the olive abdomen; numerosa, the Little Black Caddis, of grayer body but with a green lateral stripe; and the continent-spanning americanus, nicknamed "Olive Dun" for its body and wing colors. They range in size from 6 to 13 mm, respectively. Males run approximately one hook size smaller than females.

During any caddis hatch trout favor pupae over winged adults, but Grannoms linger on the surface longer than most, and rises to them are not uncommon. Within days the females return, laden with bright green eggs clustered on their abdomens. They oviposit both by diving subsurface to paste eggs on underwater rocks and by laying them directly in the surface film. Versatile patterns like the Dette Caddis look convincing both on the surface and when pulled under to fish as a wet fly.

March Brown (Stenonema vicarium)

The large mayfly entomologists know as Stenonema vicarium has many nicknames, like March Brown and Gray Fox. Adults come in several shades and sizes - different breeds, if you will - even on the same stream. They share tawny yellow underbodies, heavily mottled wings, banded legs and two tails.

The larvae are clingers, with flat, mottled bodies, banded legs and three long tails. Nymph patterns attract some hefty fish, but by late May I'm ready for surface fishing. When the late afternoon hatch begins, I tie on one of George Schlotter's Henwing Emergers. By smearing floatant on the wing only, I can hang it in the surface film just like the clumsy natural, laboring to shed its shuck. Bigger fish often ignore the more exposed, high floating duns in favor of slightly submerged emergers.

I'm particularly partial to vicarium spinner falls, which begin before sundown and last until dark. Fish rise freely to the large, spent insects drifting motionless in the surface film, and I've even known them to grab a submerged artificial as it hangs at the end of a dead drift. For maximum floatation of large spinners I substitute clipped hackle for stripped quill bodies.

The March Brown is a sustained finale to the early season hatches. Other movements follow - the pastorale of midsummer drakes, the scherzo of caddises and autumn mayflies, and the chorus of crickets and other late season terrestrials. But, like the first thematic notes of a popular symphony, none are so pleasantly familiar, or eagerly anticipated, as the first hatches of spring.