Salmon Fly Hatch: The Experience
NPA guide, Taylor Martin, with a friendly salmon fly during a recent shuttle trip.
May 31, 2018
Think of your favorite food to eat. Maybe it’s grandma’s homemade biscuits and gravy, or your super-secret recipe of chocolate chip cookies, or maybe it’s a nice t-bone steak with a baked potato and steamed asparagus. Now imagine you only had one to two weeks out of every year that you had the opportunity to eat that food. Would you eat it every day, regardless of what other food options were thrown your way? I know I would. This is exactly the scenario that happens during the salmon fly hatch. Every year fish are awarded their most favorite meal that could be available anywhere from one day to two weeks. North Park Anglers guide, Scott Graham wrote a blog about the science of salmon flies and their hatch which you can find here: http://northparkanglers.com/salmon-flies/ . An experienced salmon fly hatch angler knows just how fun and exciting it is to experience and fish the hatch, but what if you’ve never had the opportunity to fish it before? What’s all the hype about? Without giving out too much of a spoiler alert, here is a small taste of what you can expect to experience during the salmon fly hatch:
1.) Top-water action and a lot of it. Ever thrown double large dries and gotten hits nearly every cast (granted that you don’t cast them into the willows)? Fish the salmon fly hatch and you will.
2.) Skin that crawls…all day. You can never quite get used to 2+ inch flying bugs crawling all over your arms, legs, hands, face and neck. You’ll be thankful for a shower at the end of the day.
3.) An occasional squeal from your fishing buddy. Like I said before, no matter how much you think you’ve gotten used to the bugs crawling on you, when one tries to get up close and personal with your left nostril, or according to NPA guide, Joey Solano, your ear hole, you can’t help but let out a little squeal.
4.) Catching fish that are absolutely gorged out on giant orange flies. You know that feeling while eating your favorite food of being absolutely stuffed but still wanting to keep eating, because it’s just so good? Trout do too, and they’re not afraid of having a food-baby belly.
Whether you’re an experienced angler who’s been fishing the hatch for years, or this is your first time being able to hit it, the salmon fly hatch is one that continues to excite and intrigue fly fishermen and women. Next time you eat one of your favorite meals, be grateful that it’s available to you for more than a minute period of time.
Written by: Taylor Martin
