Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 21
with grasshoppers on a spinning rod. Before
an outing to his favorite brook trout stream,
I'd sometimes be tasked with catching a mess
of large, plump grasshoppers and containing them in a glass jar. He'd impale a husky
hopper on a small, bare hook and drift it
into the current. It was often inhaled by
an enthusiastic brookie before it floated 15
feet. These terrestrials aren't only used by fly
anglers. Spin anglers can fish flies mimicking
terrestrial insects on reservoirs and alpine
lakes by lobbing them to the desired location
with a casting bubble.
For the most part, exploiting the summertime penchant for terrestrials among many
species of fish is a game played by the fly
angler. It's simple, really. While getting a finicky trout to take a fly representing the adult
or nymph form of an aquatic insect usually
involves "matching the hatch" or reasonably
offering something fish in a particular waterbody are accustomed to eating, terrestrials
often seem to arouse a more opportunistic
attitude. In my early years as a fly angler,
success slinging dry flies was most frequently
found fishing patterns representing insects
whose domain is the terra firma.
Charts that link fly types with the best
weeks to fish them usually highlight hoppers and other terrestrials for the months
of July, August and September. That period
spans the peak of their abundance through
their autumn demise, though many species
emerge earlier. August is the month most
commonly equated with hoppers, but they're
trout magnets on many streams weeks after
September frosts hamstring their hopping.
When fishing the upper portion of the
Gardner River in Yellowstone National Park
one October, I found the brook trout more
enthusiastic to snatch a small Joe's hopper
floated on the surface than any other fly in
my arsenal. Moral of this story: you probably won't have much luck fishing terrestrial
patterns before the real bugs emerge in the
summer, but they can be effective for weeks
after they've departed.
Terrestrials include a host of bugs ranging
in size. Some grasshoppers stretch a couple
inches from their oblong, beady eyes to the
end of their translucent wings. Tiny black
ants may measure no more than a quarter-inch. In between these extremes are the
likes of ladybugs, flying ants, crickets, spiders,
moths, bees and beetles. Under the right
circumstances, fish will greedily grab any
Fish feed on an expansive array
of terrestrial insects, including
ladybugs. Discovering which
flies they'll take often involves
some guesswork. (Photo by
Dominic Ballard)
In my early years as a fly
angler, success slinging
dry flies was most
frequently found fishing
patterns representing
insects whose domain is
the terra firma.
Large fish are frequently seduced
by husky, terrestrial fly patterns.
(Photo by Jack Ballard)
Wyoming Wildlife | 21
Wyoming Wildlife magazine
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wyoming Wildlife magazine
Table of contents
Cover
From the director
A couple pennies
Letters to the editor
Opening shot
News
Project profiles
Ask Game and Fish
Case files
In the Field
The terrestrial extra
Elk and Elke
Earrings with info
Still in Love
Wild country dispatch
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Cover
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - From the director
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Table of contents
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - A couple pennies
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Letters to the editor
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Opening shot
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 7
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - News
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 9
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 10
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 11
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 12
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Project profiles
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Ask Game and Fish
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Case files
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - In the Field
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 17
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - The terrestrial extra
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 19
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 20
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 21
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 22
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 23
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Elk and Elke
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 25
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 26
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 27
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 28
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 29
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Earrings with info
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 31
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 32
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 33
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 34
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 35
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 36
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 37
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Still in Love
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 39
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 40
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 41
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 42
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 43
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 44
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 45
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - Wild country dispatch
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 47
Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 48
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