SPRING CREEK HATCHES – WHERE EAST MEETS WEST
There are many spring creek waters scattered across the United States and each is unique and different. Though they share some common ground, they soon can and will frustrate the visiting angler who has failed to properly prepare for the trip.
One of the major causes for this frustration is the hatches! Often I hear fly fishers mock and poke fun at individuals who match the hatch and seem to know all the Latin names for the insects in question. However, I would like to point out that those who are mocked are generally not the anglers who are having trouble catching fish!
Some fly fishers have limited spring creek experience or fail to do their homework when traveling to western spring creeks. Unfortunately, they are often dismayed to find that they are ill prepared for the hatches they encounter.
A casual comparison of the hatch charts or even a casual question may cause even further confusion. Let me give you a few examples. Many of the Pennsylvania spring creeks have hatches of sulfur duns, so do the western spring creeks. However, the eastern sulfurs are Ephemerella dorothea, size 16 or 18. The sulfur duns on the western spring creeks are Centroptilum elsa and are size 20 and 22.
Some Pennsylvania spring creeks have a hatch of Centroptilum album which is called the Pale Morning Dun and is a size 20 or 22. Here in the west we too have Pale Morning Dun hatches, but they are size 16 to 20. Oh, by the way, our PMD's are Ephemerella inermis or infrequens. By this time everyone should be thoroughly lost and confused.
The confusion can be quickly put to rest with a little homework. Find good, knowledgeable information sources and obtain copies of hatch charts for the waters you are going to be fishing, ensuring that the hatch charts include the local common name, the Latin name and the proper sizes of the imitations.
However, there are some areas where east meets west, where the hatches are very similar and even the emergence dates are close. Both have midge (Chironomid) and Pseudocloeon hatches which are very close and Tricorythodes hatches. However the eastern Trico's tend to be size 24 to 28, where the Trico's in the west tend to be size 20 and 22.
By far the most common hatch we share is that of the Baetis tricaudatus, often referred to in the east as Blue Winged Olive or Little Blue Winged Olive. The BWO hatches in the west are most commonly called Baetis. Though the insect is the same species, the colors and sizes may vary somewhat depending on the water to be fished. The water types which contain these insects and their behavioral characteristics remain the same regardless of where they are found, east or west. Many of the same nymph and emerger pattern styles are used as imitations across the nation. However not all pattern styles are the same. Those of the dry fly imitations can vary greatly between the east and the west. Let's take a look at two of the most popular dry fly imitations, their styles, and their differences.
Tying Styles---East vs West
Little Blue Winged Olive vs Baetis Sparkle Dun
Possibly the best known style of tying dry flies is that of the Catskill patterns. Understand that this is a style of tying dry flies. The Catskill style has been best described by the late Harry Darbee in the Catskill Flytier, published in 1977.
"A notably lean, sparse body, usually of spun fur or stripped quill of peacock herl. A divided wing of lemon-colored, mottled barbules of woodduck flank feather, and a few sparse turns of incredibly stiff, clean, glassy cock's hackle, mostly either blue dun or ginger. The wings and hackle are set back from the eye of the hook, having an unusually long, clean "neck" at the expense of a slightly shortened body."
The keys to the Catskill style are, clean and sparse. Who developed this style? That credit is awarded to Theodore Gordon, Herman Christian, Roy Steenrod and Edward Hewitt. However that style and tradition was carried forward by Art Flick, Rube Cross, Harry & Elsie Darbee and a host of other fine fly tiers. Let us take a look at a Catskill style Little Blue Winged Olive pattern.
Little Blue Winged Olive-Eastern
- Hook: Mustad 94840 Sizes: 16-2
- Thread: Olive
- Tails: Medium blue dun hackl
- Body: Dubbed, pale olive-yellow wool and red fox fur mixed 50/5
- Wings: Medium blue dun hackle points or mallard flank fibers dyed medium blue dun
- Hackle: Medium blue dun hackle
The western sparkle dun style is very different from the clean, sparse Catskill style. If the Catskill style is described as sparse, the Sparkle Dun might be described as "anorexic", with nothing more than tails, a slender tapered body, and comparadun style wings. The Catskill dries ride on the hackle points and tails, where the Sparkle Dun floats flush in the film. These are major differences, both in appearance and tying style.
Baetis Sparkle Dun-Western
- Hook: Tiemco 101 or Mustad 94859
- Thread: Olive
- Tails: Brown/olive Z-lon fibers
- Body: Dubbed, sheared natural muskrat fur and dyed lite olive sheared muskrat fur mixed 50/50
- Wing: Natural gray coastal deer hair
Does one pattern style work better than the other? Well that depends on the skill of the angler. Both offer a different "look" to the trout, thus either may be effective depending upon the angling situation.