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While fishing the local stocked stream for dinner I was having moderate success on elk hair caddis but the hatch was sporadic at best and dwindled to none but the fish were still sipping flies off the top. Thinking midges my luck bottomed out and out of desperation I tied on an elk hair caddis that had a peacock herl body and first cast had one on. I limited out and headed home with my dinner and while cleaning them found them to be stuffed with Japanese beetles. They never even crossed my mind but the peacock herl made a pretty close match for that iridescent green body.
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To OP.....midges! I'd almost guarantee if there were regular, subtle rises, they were taking midges.....probably in very small sizes. (#28 and smaller) Another possibility would be one of the many species of tiny olives, but you would have probably noticed them.
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How about spinners from an earlier hatch? They can be very difficult to see unless you really study the water surface. If it wasn't spinners I would cast a vote for small ants, I think if they were feeding on midges you would see some of them coming off the water. Just my 2 cents on the subject.
Rodney
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I agree LadyFisher!
Learnin' something is always fun! Great replies!
Bob
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Oh to have a hatch like that to figure out! Its been so darned hot & dry that the few fish I do come across aren't really feeding during the day, and I've set off in search of smallies for the time being.
In the situation you describe, I'd go with a #20-22 Griffith's Gnat. It can be a midge, ant, etc. I've even used them as a tiny caddis in a pinch.
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I encounter the phantom hatch everytime I go to the Hooch in the summer, dozen of rises and not a bug in sight. I have strained by eyes looks for something coming off the water or going onto the water, nothing, nor is there anything floating on the surface. That said I have done pretty well with an ant under a dry fly, usually an Adams or Parachute Adams. I have used a Timberline Emerger under a dry with some success also and sometimes they take the dry. I don't know what I'm doing, but I listen more than my wife thinks I do.