This may be a stupid question, Lord only knows it is not the first one, but, I have never seen a fish chasing a water boatman. I have seen water boatman, but, never anything chasing them to eat them. Makes me wonder if tying this fly is a waste of time. Am I missing something here? Just curious.
Warren
i have wondered the same thing. I go to school, and have 3 class’s at a 80 acre site, with 2 ponds, 1 with donaldson trout the other without. A buddy and I went out fly fishing, after we had all our work done, and cought a couple trout, brought one back into the class room and set up a tank. With everything in the tank the same as the pond we wanted to see what the fish were eating, and how agressive they were. So we went to the pond and collected several different species of aquatic insects. First we added a few dragon fly larve, fish didnt eat them, then we added mayflys and damsel flys, fish ate a few, then we added the boatmen bettle, and the fish went crazy after them, and ate every single one we put in there, but when we went out to the pond, the shores were full of boatmen bettles. So we thought that maybe the fish didnt come in that far, and the boatmen bettles were a treat for them.
Who knows what the real answer is, but the fish love them even if you cant see it your self.
WarrenP- Actually, yes. I watch the shallows of lakes to scan for fish and bugs before I fish. So, one day I saw a boatman, and a trout just sucked it right up. I have also caught numerous fish on boatmen.
-Fly_Fisher_12
Never tied em,never tried em…Nore have i ever seen any fish,Trout or otherwise busting thru a hoard of em on any waters I’ve been around,Fishing or otherwise…Just my thoughts…
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
“Wish ya great fishing”
Bill
I’ve never seen fish going for them, but others have.
FAOL has several articles on water boatmen:
[url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/canada/can187.html:0b0a5]http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/canada/can187.html[/url:0b0a5] [url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/102003fotw.html:0b0a5]http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/102003fotw.html[/url:0b0a5]
and another: [url=http://www.westfly.com/feature/0109/feature_628.htm:0b0a5]http://www.westfly.com/feature/0109/feature_628.htm[/url:0b0a5]
WarrenP,
I was wondering the same thing the other day. I was sitting on my dock watching a raft of thousands of water boatmen floating safely and unmolested on the surface of the water. The area under the dock was also home to numerous brim and bass. The two populations seemed to have absolutely no interest in each other. Fairly large schools of brim would swim a foot or two under the boatmen and make no effort at making them a meal. These same brim viciously attacked an unweighted nymph that I offered them. My guess is that boatmen are not a highly perferred food. 8T
You had better learn to be a happy camper. You only get one try at this campground and it’s a real short camping season.
Warren;
First, there are no stupid questions!! The only stupid one is the one not asked! I learned a lot from your post. Keep them comming.
I feel more like I do now than I did when I got here!
Cactus AKA “Lucky Dog (Pirate Name)”
I’ve wondered the same thing about water striders (sometimes referred to as water spiders)
Dick
…
You learn something new every single day of your life. If you don’t, you weren’t paying attention.
I’ve heard that water striders (water spiders) have a bad taste to fish…almost a repellnt. As for the water boatmen…I dunno forsure what one is. I saw what I think is called an orsman in the Seneca River near Brewerton NY. But I’m not even sure I had him ID’ed correctly. I read an article in one of the old old fishin’ mags years ago where a guy said he saw a trout in the high mountains go after a water strider but if it really happened, its the only case I’ve ever heard of.
Ol’ Bill
1932
It is possible that some are confusing [url=http://www.FlyfishingEntomology.com/Waterstrider1r.jpg:15868]waterstriders[/url:15868] with [url=http://www.FlyfishingEntomology.com/Waterboatman1r.jpg:15868]waterboatmen[/url:15868]. Both are aquatic true bugs, but are quite different in behavior. Waterboatmen dive and swim underwater, whereas waterstriders spend their time on the water?s surface.
Recently read a rationale for why fish (mostly) avoid waterstriders. Apparently, when fish are very small, they attempt to catch water striders, but the water striders are able to move so quickly that the small fish are unable to catch them, and the fish finally give up trying. Don?t really know if this story is true, but it certainly has the ring of credibility.
Taxon
[url=http://FlyfishingEntomology.com:15868]FlyfishingEntomology.com[/url:15868]
[This message has been edited by Taxon (edited 24 July 2005).]
Or maybe they are backswimmer beetles. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
DG-
That would be a possibility as well. Backswimmers are also aquatic true bugs, not beetles.
Taxon
[url=http://FlyfishingEntomology.com:8e405]FlyfishingEntomology.com[/url:8e405]
Taxon,
You’re right! I stand corrected. My previous post referred to waterstriders. Fish don’t seem to like them very much and leave them alone most of the time. Much thanks, 8T
I picked up a water boatman out my my kids wading pool. (I have no idea how it got there) I put it in my tropical freshwater aquarium. I learned 2 things:
Lux
Fishlux-
Assuming it was an adult waterboatman, it would have flown there.
Taxon
[url=http://FlyfishingEntomology.com:0430c]FlyfishingEntomology.com[/url:0430c]
WarrenP, there is some presumption here that is pervasive throughout the fly fishing community that we can truly know how fish interpret our fly patterns. So the question whether waterboatmen are worthwhile to tie is not the same question as do fish eat waterboatmen or whether any of the patterns actually look like waterboatmen.
Of particular note is the fact that they encase themselves in an air bubble while underwater in order to breathe. So basically they look like animated silvery blobs…
fishyfranky-
Here is an article with a good underwater photo of what a [url=http://www.flyline.com/entomology/backswimmers_boatmen/:027e1]waterboatman[/url:027e1] looks like with its air bubble.
Taxon
[url=http://FlyfishingEntomology.com:027e1]FlyfishingEntomology.com[/url:027e1]
Thanks Taxon, its a great pic.
You can see how much flash there is and how the bubble covers the whole underbody. Also, insect bodies are not opaque but generally translucent and shiny to some degree.
I’ve seen one good pattern IMHO that has a body made entirely of silver tinsel. A darkish back covers the top. The rest… who knows, maybe fish are really that stupid 
[This message has been edited by fishyfranky (edited 25 July 2005).]
