hatch chart
Hiwassee River / Apalachia Tailwater |
| Don Denney's Hiwassee Hatch Chart Search bug sampling |
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Early Brown Stonefly: I don't care what the calendar says, spring starts for me in late February when the maples bloom. Most folks call it budding, but if you look closely, there are jillions of tiny red flowers. When these appear, the early brown stoneflies come off on the Hiwassee. Some places are better than others. My favorite is above the powerhouse, just upstream from the 2 turbine high water line. About 4 pm when the ridge shades the water, fish will be rising. They take egg laying adults, and sometimes a sz 14 brown elk hair caddis will do. I personally fish a sz 12 brown hackle peacock, wet or dry. If that fails a sz 16 pheasant tail with half a twiston above my tippet knot works wonders, deep and slow. photos courtesy of www.troutnut.com |
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Hendrickson: In April when the dogwoods bloom, hendricksons do their thing on the Hiwassee. My favorite place is the area just above Little Rock Island on the trail side of the river. About 1 pm, if you're lucky, they come off. Some folks use hendricksons, red quills, comparaduns, and such. I just use my general purpose sz 12 grey hackle peacock and do ok. The female tends to be lighter than the male. The males are the ones with red eyes. photos courtesy of www.troutnut.com |
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Blue Wing Olive: Blue wing olives are a spring and fall event here. Some are sz 18, but many are 22-24. I really don't pursue these like some folks do, but if I come across them (sometimes heavy for hours) I fish my sz 18 grey hackle peacock wet or dry, or a pheasant tail. I know many folks who like to piddle with a sz 18 parachute adams, which is highly visible because of the white post. Serious folks use emergers and such, and bwo's account for some very good fish. Overcast days are considered better. |
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Grannom: Sometimes in the spring, noonish is when I have observed them, grannoms come off and the fish get picky. Look closely for small dark grey winged caddis. There are other species with black wings (chimarra), but I treat them all the same. I use a dry sz 16 grey hackle peacock, but other folks use ehc or emergers. My experience has been that the hatches don't last too long, but the fish sure get picky for them. About 6 pm there are blizzards of egg layers flying upstream, and rising fish. Grannoms are the ones that have the little square "stickbait" cases. I keep fish now and then, and in the spring a lot of fish are chock full of these. I've never had any success myself with cased caddis imitations, but I manage to catch a lot of fish then with my old reliable brown hackle peacock. left photo courtesy of www.troutnut.com, right photo courtesy of The Naturals |
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Brown Caddis: I personally don't distinguish between cinnamons, little sisters, and greens. Greens are bigger and little sisters are smaller. I just fish my sz 12 brown hackle peacock, wet or dry, and catch plenty of fish. You can look around and find these laying eggs almost anytime except the very coldest months, and even then on a warm sunny day you will see some. Other folks use ehc or emergers. photos courtesy of www.troutnut.com |
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Sulfur: In the late spring (Mayish) when the mountain laurel is blooming, sulfurs come off in the late afternoon, and sometimes continue well into June. This is one of our better hatches. My favorite place is the shoals below Fox's Cabin. I personally fish a sz 16 grey hackle yellow dry. Other folks use small light cahills, sulfur patterns, and such. If there are splashes but no hookups on dries, try a pheasant tail in the film. Toward dark, I fish a grey hackle with an orange body for the spinners, in the film, stripped short and slow. photo courtesy of Eric Pacheco |
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Cream & Green Caddis: During the early part of the sulfur season, earlier in the afternoon we sometimes get a good hatch of cream colored small caddis, with lots of rising fish. I fish them the same as the sulfurs, but a small light ehc might be even better. Not sure about the species, the wing shape and case form look like some kind of goera. photo courtesy of The Naturals |
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Golden Stonefly: In the spring and early summer, we sometimes see big egg laying golden stones. They are sporadic, but some folks like to fish sofa pillows and such on heavy water. I have found big perla nymphs to be effective, deep and slow, all year long. I like to fish them early in the morning (big stoneflies in the east hatch at night). They are also worth trying anytime nothing is happening. We also have salmonflies, but they are also sporadic. I just fish my perla nymphs. |
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Isonychia: In late May, the thimbleberries bloom and Isonychias start popping. Both the thimbleberries and Isonychias continue to September or October. This is my favorite hatch. The dries are sporadic, maybe a little more concentrated mid-afternoon. The nymphs are good all summer. When I see flies popping and fish rising, I fish a sz 12 grey hackle peacock dry. This gets refusals in flat water, and I used to tie a version with dark wings that cut down on the refusals a lot, but I'm just too lazy to fool with it anymore. Other folks use red quills, hendricksons, comparaduns, emergers, and such. If you've never seen the nymphs, they are awesome. Lay one in your hand, and it will flip like a minnow. They swim like minnows, and you can fish them like streamers. Other times they want them dead drifted deep. An unexplained phenomenon is why we have such a variety of isonychia sizes on the Hiwassee. Some look like hendricksons, and some look like bats. I'm convinced some of the nymphs stay in the river more than one year. photos courtesy of www.troutnut.com |
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Light Cahill: Personally, I have never seen a concentrated light cahill hatch on the Hiwassee. This may cause a little confusion, because some of the old timers refer to sulfurs as light cahills. The cahills are sporadic, about any time of day, but the fish are glad to see them. If I happen to see a fish take one, I would put on just about any kind of dry fly and cast to the fish. photos courtesy of www.troutnut.com |
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Yellow Sally: In June one sometimes comes across fairly heavy hatches of yellow sallies in the middle of the day. This is a really good time for Tellico Nymphs and such. I just fish my grey hackle yellow wet. photos courtesy of The Naturals |
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Paraleps: Also in June in the middle of the day, little dark paraleps sometimes hatch. They are also known as small mahogony duns, and I fish my grey hackle peacock dry. A small adams will get some fish, and there are specific ties for these. My favorite place is the Fox's Cabin pool. Another similar species of paraleps come off in April, but those are usually less concentrated. photos courtesy of www.troutnut.com |
| Trico: Tricos on the Hiwassee are not publicized much. Easier to fish for them when the water is shut off in the morning. They come off regularly from July to the first heavy frost. The spinner fall theoretically occurs when the air temp reaches 68 F. This often happens when the sun first hits the water, and tends to be later in the morning later in the year. There are places where fish rise to them well. My small grey hackle peacock or grey hackle yellow works fine. If you're used to fishing for these things out west or up north, the same flies you use there will work. photo courtesy of The Naturals |
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White Mayfly: Yet another of the Hiwassee's little known hatches is the white mayfly. I was turned on to these by Col. Tom O'brien. Hope you get a chance to meet him sometime on the river. Anyway, they come off in September (I didn't see any this year, 2000), right at dark. I understand some of them molt to spinners in midair, mate, and go right back to lay eggs. Again, I just fish my sz 12 grey hackle yellow, but a sz 14 white wulff is sometimes recommended by other folks. photo courtesy of The Naturals |
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October Caddis: This is one of Tic Smith's favorite hatches. They are not abundant, but once they start, fish watch for them. Browns seem to be especially fond of them, even larger browns. They are not graceful flyers, may be mistaken for stoneflies. A stimulator is a good pattern, and there are specific ties. |
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Winter Stonefly: When the water temp gets low 40's, usually January to early February, you will find these all over your headlights when you get to the river. Sometimes fish rise to them, but a pheasant tail fished deep and slow is more reliable. photos courtesy of www.troutnut.com |
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Midges: Midges of one kind or another are around just about anytime on the Hiwassee. They shine in the cold months, when they are the only game in town except maybe winter stones, perla nymphs, or streamers. Fish find slow water and sip adults or emergers. I fish my sz 16 Griffith's gnat, or a pheasant tail in the film. Other folks use bwo's, small adams, or midge ties or emergers. My favorite place is next to the railroad bank at the lower end of the island below the powerhouse boat ramp. There is a slow stretch that catches a lot of detritus and hatches a lot of midges (and bwo's). photo courtesy of The Naturals |
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Other Stuff: The Hiwassee has an exceptional variety of hatches. We don't have Green Drakes or March Browns for some reason. Any medium size dark mayfly you see before April is probably a Quill Gordon, but they usually aren't very concentrated and go unnoticed by the fish. If you see something yellow the size of a bat, it's a Golden Drake. We have some in the spring, and they also usually go unnoticed. We have sowbugs and scuds in places, but not as thick as the Clinch. If you like to fish these they will catch some fish. If the fish are active, fish your favorite fly hard and you will probably catch some fish. I dress fish from time to time, and most of the bigger fish eat a lot of minnows or crawfish. The holdover browns usually have salmon colored flesh from all the crawfish they eat. We have plenty of sculpins, but My favorite streamer is one I tie to imitate the Warpaint Shiner. A friend of mine, Gene Niles, refers to them as "native cutthroats". I have noticed that most of the fish I find in trout are Warpaints. They feed in the same lies that trout like. They have big mouths, and take dry flies, or even sz 8 nymphs. Sometimes they just grab hackles and pull your dry under, very annoying. Another friend, Dean Tullock, claims to hold the world record for Warpaint Shiners on a dry fly. Late in the summer I catch some fish that are totally fixated on crane fly larvae. I come across a 3" hellgramite from time to time, but the fish are probably afraid of them. Jerry Cass likes riffle beetles in June, and ants and terrestrial beetles are good when you see them about, as are grasshoppers and leaf hoppers. |
| There are books about "phenology" that correlate hatches with flowers blooming, since both respond to the same factors, like daylight hours and temperature history. The flowers noted reflect my personal observations on the Hiwassee, and may not work on other rivers. It's easier to see flowers than bugs. For example, when mountain laurel starts budding, I know it's time to tie some patterns for the sulfur hatch on the Hi! |
