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Trout thrives on aquatic and terrestrial insects, and mayflies (an aquatic insect scientifically called Ephemeroptera) are the best known of all trout foods. They occur practically everywhere in the world, they are prolific and, in most places, No. 1 on the menu of a trout.

Despite their name, mayflies have nothing to do with the month of May. Their life cycle begins at different times of the year, depending on their type and other natural factors such as water flow and temperature. In simple terms, the beginning of their life is linked to the end of life of the adult female. A mayfly life cycle generally lasts about a year and is divided into four distinct stages: the egg, the nymph, and two adult stages; the adult sub-imago (dun stage) and the adult imago (spinner stage).

In short, at the start of the spinner stage, the female and the male swarm together and mate midair, fertilizing the eggs. The spinner deposits the eggs on or under the surface of the water on a lake or stream, and the eggs sink and stick to the bottom structure. The spinners, both male and female die quickly from exhaustion. This last step concludes the mayfly’s life cycle.

These little eggs hatch in a few days, and the tiny nymph is “born.” At this early stage, the nymph is too small to serve as food for trout. As the nymph grows, it grows and becomes trout fare as it moves around the bottom, or when it floats or swims on the surface of the water for the first adult stage, the dun. This movement on the bottom or on the surface makes the nymph most vulnerable to feeder trout. This metamorphic action is the dream of the experienced fly fisherman come true.

The imitations of the Mayfly nymph, roughly representing the creeping, swimming, or emerging nymph, are flies that catch trout at their best. Fished with a sinking fly line, a fly line with a sinking tip or a weighted artificial pattern is effective at this time. The imitation of the nymph can be weighted with wire wrapped on the rod of the hooks before dressing the fly, or by tying the nymph with the addition of a heavy pearl head for better sink capacity. Otherwise, an approximate representation of the size, shape, and color of natural products will be adequate.

The pheasant tail nymph and the hare ear nymph with golden ribs in tan tones to brown, light olive to dark green and light gray to black all make excellent mayfly patterns for the angler’s fly. These are the favorites of the trout nymph.

While the dry fly fisherman has a visual response to catching their dry fly on the water surface, the knowledgeable nymph fisherman will generally land more trout. The nymph fisherman cannot always see the fly below the surface.

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