Rock flipping

[brandon4455]

i was doing cleanup on my favorite little creek this afternoon for a few hours and thought i would flip some rocks to see what kind of bugs i couldfind. that way i have a better idea of which type of flies would be the most suited for my creek. i found a lot of stonefleis under rocks and wood near the shore, and also.. idk what the real name is but the littla yellow larvae that are stuck to the rock and encased in little pebbles all stuck together. there was a huge abundance of the stoneflies and the larvae but i didn't find much else. so a few questions about this. can anyone give me a general list of flies that best imitate a stonefly nymph besides the stonefly nymph fly and prince nymph?. i already know those will do great. and is it just because it's winter im only finding a few kinds of bugs? id like a little insight on rock flipping and best times to do it and best places too. i know some people that swear by rock flipping to match the hatch and id like to start doing it more myself. im confident it would increase my catch rate .

 

[BigShayne]

the larvae could be caddis. That would make since in a creek here, but I can't think a of a yellow one off the top of my head. Are you sure they were just stones and not a mix of stones and mayflies? that could open a few more nymph ideas. but a prince and stones in a few different sizes is all you need.

 

[GraphiteZen]

Yup those are caddis.

 

[bigsteel]

the caddis larvae you are seeing is most likely a cased caddis and those patters can be very deadly,,as far as stonefly patterns go with simple golden and black stoneflies and i like to use the rogue stone or mega prince...moab stones are very effective as well

 

[FishFinger]

Brandon, your onto something cool here. The insect you describes sounds like a caddis. That is a great bug to focus on when tying flies. Something fun to do is use a fine meshed net and place it below the rocks your turning. The current will sweep the resident bug into the trap. The specimens you collect can be nicely preserved in a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and glycerin. Use old power bait and single egg jars. I have a stonefly way older than you.

Having the target bug right there by your vise is handy when considering proper proportions and selecting the materials you might use.

Because your finding caddis larva, you have the opportunity to collect caddises in the 3 aspects of their metamorphosis, larva, pupa, and winged adult. With this information you can actually "match the hatch" for your creek.

 

[brandon4455]

thanks everyone! dave get your stuff ready, trout season starts on the creek in a few months! were gunna hit it hard for those big cutties!

 

[brandon4455]

Brandon, your onto something cool here. The insect you describes sounds like a caddis. That is a great bug to focus on when tying flies. Something fun to do is use a fine meshed net and place it below the rocks your turning. The current will sweep the resident bug into the trap. The specimens you collect can be nicely preserved in a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and glycerin. Use old power bait and single egg jars. I have a stonefly way older than you.

Having the target bug right there by your vise is handy when considering proper proportions and selecting the materials you might use.

Because your finding caddis larva, you have the opportunity to collect caddises in the 3 aspects of their metamorphosis, larva, pupa, and winged adult. With this information you can actually "match the hatch" for your creek.

thats a lot of helful info, thanks fishfinger ill definitely have to try the mesh thing out. once im able to tie my own there will be no stopping me from slaying those cutthroat :lol:

 

[joesnuffy]

I've done a bit of stone flipping when the fishing was slow. The problem I've run into is that even after matching th einsects under the rocks I still didn't catch anything....... guess they just weren't biting those days.

 

[GraphiteZen]

I've done a bit of stone flipping when the fishing was slow. The problem I've run into is that even after matching th einsects under the rocks I still didn't catch anything....... guess they just weren't biting those days.

Maybe that had something to do with you flipping over rocks in the river and scaring the fish away. Yeah and flipping over rocks in the river.

 

[bigsteel]

thanks everyone! dave get your stuff ready, trout season starts on the creek in a few months! were gunna hit it hard for those big cutties!

im ready now buddy

 

[brandon4455]

i also found, what seems to be stoneflies,but they are way smaller. and there heads are a lot wider.

 

[GungasUncle]

Helgramites?

You may or may not have known this neat little tidbit - finding stoneflies means you've found a very healthy body of water. Stoneflies are sensitive to environmental changes, and they're one of the first bugs to disappear when water quality starts to decline. It's a very good sign to find stones

 

[ICamel49]

Look for a recently published book titled "Bugwater" by Arlen Thomason. Local(Willamette Valley/Oregon) guy and fly fisherman/biologist/entomologist.

 

[Markcanby]

I looked at the book on Amazon. Looks like it has a lot on nice info an pics. Does it also recommend flys to match the bug?

 

[ICamel49]

While there are some recommendations and photo's of tied flies, you are going to get the most value from what the insects look like underwater(to the trout) so you can select flies that are going to look like the real deal.

 

[Markcanby]

Thats what I thought but I'm still going to get it.