Anglers' delight: Hungry fish seeking spring meal

A window is opening, and coming into view are the hatches ... midges and mayflies now, and soon to follow the stoneflies and caddis.

All of which are attracting both fishermen and fish — the fish come to eat them, and fishermen try to imitate these meals as best they can, which, of course, all makes for a perfect recipe for good fishing.

Currently, fish are starting to awaken from the winter doldrums brought on by ice-cold water — and in some cases, ice — and very little food. They're looking for a little warmth and a few good meals. Which, at this time of the year, are the insect hatches.

First to hatch are the tiniest of insects — midges. They're not much of a mouthful, something along the lines of a small mosquito, but they're food. And they are the first of the colder-weather flies to hatch.

Next are the mayflies, the blue wing olive, which are a little larger fly and a heartier meal, but still on the small side.

To the fly fisherman, the two imitations are perfect surface flies for this time of the fishing season. Surface flies are popular in as much as anglers not only get to feel the strike, but also see it.

As the waters warm, the larger hatches — the stoneflies and caddis, which are fished along the bottom — bring out the slightly larger patterns from the fly boxes.

Consensus is that while surface flies are enjoyable, the larger fish swim below the surface and prefer bottom bouncers.

"And, those fishing below the surface are more likely to catch the larger fish," said Byron Gunderson, a partner in Fish Tech Outfitters.

"Because it takes so much energy to go after the smaller flies, the larger fish prefer the larger flies. Also, the bigger, smarter fish stay close to the bottom where the current isn't as fast and they're safer," he added.

One mistake fishermen often make, he explained, is they stand where they should be fishing — in the shallows.

Therefore, anglers should consider fishing the shallows, which are waters around a foot deep. That's where the food is and that's where the fish are.

"The fish are moving out of places where they have been hiding and are moving to the shallows where the sun is warming the water and the insects are starting to emerge," he said.

In faster-moving waters, a good technique for cutts is to fish an artificial stonefly or caddis slowly along the bottom.

Spin fishermen can do the same with night crawlers.

Cutts are aggressive feeders and at this time of the year will rise to take dry flies off the surface.

Rainbow remain one of the more popular fish. One reason is their acrobatic abilities. Once hooked their first inclination is to leap out of the water.