Quote Originally Posted by Joe Hyde View Post
For reasons unknown to us computer-challenged types, I got to watch only about 15 seconds of this 4+ minute video before the image locked up.

But in that short time I was able to see something I've never seen before and have always been curious about; namely, what body position does a mayfly nymph assume once it rises to the surface at the moment of hatch?

Answer: the nymph lays itself out flat in the prone position, just below the surface tension. Talk about a juicy silhouetted target!

I can now stop worrying if a nymph pattern I cast out fails to sink immediately upon touchdown. Indeed, I think an argument can be made that if you're out fishing when a hatch commences, it is useful to have inside your fly box a few nymph patterns whose top sides have been pre-treated with floatant? This would help hold your nymph pattern at the surface longer and thus expose it to attack.

Or not. Who knows, maybe fish prefer grabbing the mayfly's more visually stimulating phase -- the winged adult -- during its initial wingbeats to gain altitude.

I'm gonna try to find this video on YouTube directly so that I can watch the entire clip. Pretty cool stuff; thanks Steve!


Joe
"Better small than not at all."

During a hatch I've had great success stripping an unweighted pheasant tail just under the surface or using a strike indicator about a half a foot above one and just letting it sit in stillwater.