Hatch guides

Fly fishing hatches

19 hatches we track across our river calendars. Each guide covers peak months, the rivers where the hatch is active, and the fly patterns that match it.

Blue Wing Olive

Mayfly. Emerges on cool, overcast days from early spring through late fall.

Caddisfly. The most widely distributed insect in trout streams; fluttering surface activity.

Early Black Stonefly

Plecoptera. Emerges on warm winter days in February and March.

Mayfly. The most anticipated hatch on classic Eastern limestone streams.

Mayfly. The signal hatch of early spring in the Northeast.

Isonychia (Slate Drake)

Mayfly. Large, fast-swimming insects from late June through September.

Mayfly. Cream-colored evening hatch from summer into early fall.

Mayfly. Large, sturdy insects from fast riffles in May and early June.

Diptera. Hatches year-round; the primary winter surface food on tailwaters.

Caddisfly. A large orange-bodied caddis on Western rivers in fall.

Pale Morning Dun

Mayfly. The dominant Western hatch, late spring through summer.

Mayfly. Among the earliest dry-fly hatches of the Eastern season.

Skwala Stonefly

Plecoptera. The first significant adult stonefly of the Western season.

Plecoptera. Ranges from tiny early-blacks to giant Western salmonflies.

Mayfly. The defining evening hatch of the Eastern season, May through July.

Ants, beetles, and hoppers that fall into rivers all summer.

Mayfly. Dense early-morning spinner falls on tailwaters and spring creeks.

Mayfly. Massive evening blizzards at dusk in August and September.

Plecoptera. Small yellow stoneflies on mountain streams, spring into midsummer.