06-16-2008, 01:25 PM
Went looking to see if the stonefly hatch was finally underway yesterday down on my stomping grounds. Hit the stream at about 5200 ft and had to keep my mouth shut or risk inhaling a dozen caddis with each breath. Not what I was looking for but tried it for a half hour without seeing a fish. Did see a couple stoneflies. Moved upstream to about 6000 ft and the caddis had thinned enough I could at least breath and the stones had picked up quite bit. Little black, sallies and salmonflies where all hatching. I went with a #6 salmonfly nymph because I like any excuse to throw the big stuff. I think it was the right choice because salmonflies seemed to be the most common stone out. Caught several dozen 14-16 inch fish but no bigger ones as I normal seem to get during a good stonefly hatch. Did have 1 20 inch plus brown take the fly at the end of a drift about 6ft in front of me. It jumped up to my eye level and spit the fly out before I had any hope of setting the hook.
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