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Damsel Flies June and July Topic

April and May Topic Midges

Damsel flies seem to be around every body of stillwater and most moving water that has slow sections. Most anglers and people seem to take them for granted on lakes and slow moving waters and just admire there graceful flight and colorful bodies. Damsels belong to the Class Insecta, Order Odonata, Sub Order Zygotera, and Familes Coenagrionidae and Lestidae. There are hundreds of species, but most seem to be close enough for the angler to treat them all the same. Never mind all that technical stuff, fish love damsels. From early spring until mid to late summer they are moving about, migrating, hatching, and returning to lay their eggs. Fish take to these things like a kid to candy. Some lakes appear to have less damsel populations and are of less importance to the fish and fishermen than others. In most cases, the angler must always take into consideration damsel imitations and in some waters, must treat this bug as a prime food source and fish it accordingly.

I used to fish Crane Prarie Reservoir in Southern Oregon each spring for large rainbows using Callibaetis dries and damsel imitations. This was one the West's best rainbow lakes until the last 10 years when fishing pressure and other conditions have contributed to its downfall. I learned a great deal about fishing damsel imitations on Crane Prarie from a local tyer and fly shop owner (Dexter) in nearby Lone Pine. I had fished damsels in Lake Davis and other waters using rudimentary patterns and techniques for many years, and started to incorporate the innovate patterns and techniques from Oregon while improving my success exponentially. While Dexter is no longer at his shop, I rely on his ideas about fly design and fishing strategies to continually develop and utilize patterns and strategies in my own fishing. In addition to Dexter, I have learned from many of the local and visiting fishermen in my area. Two of the best lake fishermen I know, Sash Nakamoto and Dough Oulette from the Reno area have shared their patterns and strategies with me and others over the years to greatly improve lake fishing in our area.

Damsel nymphs hatch from eggs that develop in the weed beds and reeds and grow to about 1 to 1 1/2 inches at maturity. They have a one year life cycle and spend most of their time searching for food. They are great predators and feed on midge larvae, mayfly nymphs and other aquatic insects. Damsels emerge in early spring to early and even mid summer depending on conditions. They don't hatch in the water surface and need to crawl out on vegetation or dry areas to hatch out. For this reason, they will migrate from their protected weed beds and hiding places toward the shore or nearest vegetation to hatch. When they are migrating, they swim and wiggle in almost a pollywog fashion that drives the fish crazy. Thousands of patterns trying to imitate that wiggle have been tied with little success. Perhaps when nanotechnology gets better, a small motor in the tail of imitations will do the trick. The nymphs range from dark to light olive, tan to dark brown, and mustard yellow to golden olive depending on the species and specifically on the color of the weeds they live in. After the nymphs crawl out and hatch the new adults (tenerals) are usually tan and it takes some time for them to pump up their bodies and wings to the blue color most of us are most familiar with. While some adults are the bright neon blue we are used to, some are of various colors including yellow, variegated and even red. The adults mate after hatching and the females lay their eggs by dropping them above the water or even dragging their egg sac. Egg laying and other adults getting blown in the water by the wind sometimes provide opportunities for the angler to use dry teneral and adult patterns with some exciting results. Always have a few adults in tan and blue with you. Obviously, the angler needs to concentrate on the nymphal imitations and strategies if they want to be successful. After trying hundreds of patterns, I have come to tie and fish only about five or six patterns regularly. I do check every fly shop I walk into for new patterns in search of that "special one" that will fool all the fish all the time.Every year, several articles suggesting new patterns are published and I try them all! Sometimes the one that works best for you is the one you have the most confidence in at the time. Don't get stuck in a rut!

Fishing Strategies

Everyone who fishes lakes seem to have their own favorite retrieve. Experienced anglers learn quickly to vary their fishing depths and retrieves until finding success. Most unsuccessful anglers never seem to get this. I am always amused by the angler that spends hundreds and even thousands of dollars on fly rods, reels, lines, and all the other equipment, then goes out to the lake and trolls a wooly bugger by kicking their legs or fins. This technique is successful many times by the nature of having the fly in the water all the time, but is it really what fly fishing is about? Learn to match the insects and present your imitations correctly, and you will increase your success to new levels. Yes there is a learning curve, but it will pay off in big rewards. I have nothing against wooly buggers or any of the other great imitations in our sport, but lets at least cast them once in a while! Sorry for the soapbox routine. Damsels wiggle and are very clumsy swimmers. For that reason, they need to rest a lot in there journey. Think about it! That means they move SLOWLY and then STOP often. So retrieve accordingly. Use a slow retrieve and stop frequently. If fact, sometimes the best retrieve is no retrieve at all. We call this the "heave it and leave it" retrieve. If your retrieve is not working, try a different size nymph or different color before changing the technique. If that does not work, then try different retrieves. I watch anglers stripping so fast that not even a respectable Barracuda could catch the nymph. Sure it will work sometimes, but a lot of people buy things on late night TV shows too! A couple of years ago, I was fishing with my buddy Rick and Dave who owned the Lake Davis store on a favorite point. (No I won't tell which one!) Pods of very large rainbows were thrashing the water everywhere and we were only catching a fish once in a while. We tried all patterns and retrieves and nothing seemed to help. Then Rick cut a small piece of 1/8 inch diameter cork off at about 1/4 inches and used it as a way of suspending his nymph about 10 inches below the surface. He immediately hooked up and we scrambled to make the same change. We caught an embarrassing number of fish that day and thought we had all the answers. The technique worked moderately the rest of the summer, but not as well as that first day. This just illustrates that you need to think, be observant, and willing to try new ideas even if it is using make shift bobbers. Hey, at least they were not orange! I will include a floating damsel nymph that has worked sometimes when I wanted the imitation to be right in the surface.

Damsel Imitations

Don't forget to check the great books and resources out there for damsel patterns. Very few tiers reinvent the wheel and there are some good patterns that are easy to tie out there.

Damsel Pattern 1

Damsel Pattern 2

Damsel Pattern 3

Damsel Pattern 4 (quick to tie- no photo)

More to Come latter.