The Hottest Part of the Hatch - Fishing the Emergence with Wagner

(Before you read this article, please click on the image above or the song title here to cue Richard Wagner's piece, Ride of the Valkyries).

With Wagner now providing a soundtrack for this article, imagine with me hundreds of thousands of mature mayfly nymphs, caddis pupa, and midge pupa staging among the rocks along the bottom of your favorite trout water. In answer to a primal call, these invertebrates launch themselves from the safety of the streambed and struggle towards the surface. While swimming towards the surface, these determined and driven invertebrates are met by schools of hungry trout that have been waiting for their prey to break cover. Below the surface, the scene quickly devloves into an aquatic version of The Running of the Bulls. The emerging invertebrates toil to the surface while all around them, their innumberable relations are picked off. Upon reaching the surface, the journey is still far from over. The pupa and nymphs struggle to break through the elastic tension of the water's surface. All the while, the fish have followed the ascent, rolling in and breaking the surface of the water to fully take advantage of their vulnerable prey. The lucky few finally pull free of the water and thus end the exhilarating phenomena that is the Emergence.

This part of the mayfly, caddis, and midge life cycle can be one of the most fun and productive stages for the fly angler to fish. Make sure your fly boxes are filled with patterns to match the emergence, and if you have Ride of the Valkyries loaded on your iphone, so much the better!