Matching the Hatch?

[James]

I was fishing Cardiff pond. There was a hatch on but the bugs were too far out for me to get a good look at them. How do I go about matching the hatch when this happens?

What another good way to fish Cardiff?

[Michael Dell]

James,

 

There's a couple things you can do in this situation.

 

First is to observe what the bugs are doing:

 

Mayflies will dance up and down in the air while they are mating. They fly gracefully. The females will dip their egg sacs in the water to deposit their eggs.

 

Caddis fly erratically. The females skitter across the surface to drop their eggs.

 

Backswimmers and waterboatmen will crash into the surface of the water and swim underneath.

 

Gnats will just buzz all over the place. They are tiny.

 

Damselflies and dragonflies are big enough to see from a distance.

 

All this is a huge generalization, but based on what you see you can try different bug patterns of your best guess until you find out what works. Try something smaller than you think you see because they look bigger when they are flitting around.

 

Second is to look around the edges of the lake. Kick the bushes and see what flies up. Look for dead bugs in the scum at the edge of the pond. If you find a lot of something that might be what you are seeing in the air. Try something and see if it works.

 

If all else fails this time of year I would put on a backswimmer or waterboatman imitation and smack it on the surface.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Michael

[RangerBob]

I was fishing Cardiff pond. There was a hatch on but the bugs were too far out for me to get a good look at them. How do I go about matching the hatch when this happens?

What another good way to fish Cardiff?

James,

 

The RBE... never fails me.. at this time of year on Cardiff. I'll have to sneak out there one night this week to see what's up.

 

http://flyangler.ca/index.php?option=com_c...d=131&Itemid=32

Edited September 13, 2006 by RangerBob