Stone flies make great trout food

<a href="mailto:awulff@whiteface.net">By FRAN BETTERS</a>
Focus On Fly-Fishing

August 03, 2008 05:24 am

— The month of August is that time of the season when we see all those micro-insects that drive most fishermen nuts trying to figure out what the trout are feeding on.
It's also that time when you see the large hatches of those big ugly Stone flies, and trout love to feed on them.
I recall one particular morning when my wife and I stepped out the front door of our house on the river to go to our SUV in the yard. The ground was literally covered with large orange-bodied Stone flies and many were a good two inches long. We could not walk to the car without stepping on them.
The Stone flies are easily identified by their size as well as the large double-tent wing over the body. There are always Stone fly nymphs in the streams and you only have to turn over a rock or two to find them. The colors most dominant are black, brown, orange or yellow and golden.
In the spring when the water is cold and on the high side, a well-placed stone fly nymph will nearly always produce a trout when fished along the bottom. During the summer months, however, a large dry imitation fished on the surface with a slight skittering action will bring up some good-sized fish. The pattern that best imitates them is called a stimulator and are usually tied on hook sizes 8, 10 or 12.
Early morning fishermen will often see rocks in the river covered with these large insects or their shucks. Large stimulators can be fished anytime during the day but seem most productive during early morning or late evening hours.
Fishing these large flies in the pockets and riffles can get you some good-sized trout and is not nearly as frustrating as trying to imitate those tiny micro-Caddis that come off the slower sections of the river. Remember -- this is the time of the year to "get Stoned."