Eat The Fly

Hornyhead Chub

Alex — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:44:25 +0000

photo: Alex Cerveniak

Scientific Name: Nocomis biguttatus

Size: up to 10″, averages around 4″

Range: Northeast, Great Lakes, Midwest

Habitat:

rocky pools and runs in small to medium rivers

Imitations:

Coming Soon!

Creek Chub

Alex — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:31:17 +0000

photo: Alex Cerveniak

Scientific Name: Semolitus atromaculatus

Size: up to 10″, averages around 7″

Range:

most of eastern U.S.A. and southern Canada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas

Habitat:

rocky and sandy pools of headwaters, creeks, and small rivers.
Mostly found in tiny, intermittent streams.

Imitations:

Coming Soon!

Common Shiner

Alex — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:18:19 +0000

photo: Alex Cerveniak

Scientific Name: Luxilus cornutus

Size: up to ~7″, average 3″ to 4″

Range:

Atlantic, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River basins from Nova Scotia to southeastern Saskatchewan and south to James River drainage in Virginia, northern Ohio, central Missouri and Wyoming.

Habitat:

rocky pools near riffles in clear, cool creeks and small to medium rivers
sometimes in lakes in northern part of range

Imitations:

Coming Soon!

Fallfish

Alex — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:00:09 +0000

photo: Alex Cerveniak

Scientific Name: Semotilus corporalis

Size: Average around 5″, but grow up to 17″

Range: Northeast United States, Eastern Canada

Habitat:

gravel bottomed areas of small to medium sized streams as well as lake margins

Imitations:

Coming Soon!

References:

Fishbase.org’s Fallfish Page

Blacknose Dace

Alex — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:44:42 +0000

Juvenile Blacknose Dace photo: Alex Cerveniak

The black side stripe, or lateral line, is generally more pronounced than shown in the photo above.

Scientific Name: Rhinichthys atratulus
Common Names: Blacknose Dace, Blacknosed Dace, Dace, Striped Dace, Redfin Dace, Brook Minnow, Potbelly

Size: less than 3″ (~80mm)

Habitat: Stream pools and rocky riffles, not found in lakes or ponds

Behavior/Notes:

spawn in the Spring/Early Summer, at which time, the males have a rusty-orange or red stripe below the black side stripe
at the end of their first seasonv(Fall), the young will range from 1.5″ to 2″ in length

Imitations:

Coming Soon!

References

Global Fly Fisher’s Blacknose Dace Page
Excellent write-up on Blacknose Dace

Rook.org’s Blacknose Dace Page
Great info on Blacknose Dace

Tadpoles

Alex — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:45:34 +0000

Photo/Info

photo: Alex Cerveniak

Bullfrog Tadpole-photo: Alex Cerveniak

More pictures can be seen in the ‘Additional Photos’ tab above

Size: 5mm to 80mm

Habitat:

In streams, tadpoles are most often found in areas with slow current
In lakes/ponds, they are mostly found in shallow, weedy areas.

Behavior/Angling Tips:

Tadpoles swim by moving their tail
Tadpole imitations are a great ‘mini-streamer’ imitation while angling for panfish
Bullfrog Tadpoles grow up to around 3″(~80mm), and are an excellent food source to imitate for large and smallmouth bass. We’ll have some imitations up soon, however if you need an imitation now, think sculpin.

Imitations:

Coming Soon!

Additional Photos

Bullfrog Tadpole, photo: Alex Cerveniak

Bulldrog Tadpole, photo: Alex Cerveniak

Caudata: Salamanders

Alex — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:11:36 +0000

Name

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata

Common Names:

Salamanders

Larvae/Adult

photo: Alex Cerveniak

Size: 30mm to 150mm- as far as the angler is concerned.

Habitat:

slow to medium current
I seem to find a lot more of these in the 30mm to 50mm size range on smaller streams flowing through forests
Very abundant in shallow areas of lakes and ponds

Behavior:

salamanders swim with a very serpent-like motion, staying very close to the bottom as they seek current breaks such as rocks or logs

Imitations:

coming soon!

References

Troutnut.com’s Salamander Page
Not much salamander info, but some great underwater salamander photographs

Foam Body Michigan Skunk

Alex — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:13:52 +0000

fly and photo: Alex Cerveniak

Hook: 2XL Nymph Hook
Body: 2mm Craft Foam
Legs: Rubber Legs
Wing: Deer Body Hair

EZ Damselfly Nymph

Alex — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:10:37 +0000

fly and photo: Alex Cerveniak

Hook: 2XL Nymph Hook
Tail: Marabou
Abdomen: Marabou
Legs/Thorax: Olive Partridge
Wingcase: Swiss Straw
Eyes: Damsel Eyes

Odonata-Anisoptera: Dragonfly

Alex — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:54:30 +0000

Name
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Anisoptera

Nymph

photo: Alex Cerveniak

Additional Photos Can Be Seen In The ‘Additional Photos’ Tab Above.

Size: 10mm to 40mm

Habitat:

nymphs can be found in slow to medium current in streams or in lakes/ponds.
tolerant of very cool to very high water temperatures.

Behavior:

Dragonfly nymphs are highly predacious, feeding on other macro-invertebrates and small fish.
They swim by taking in water through their mouth and pumping it out the tip of their abdomen in short bursts.

Imitations:

fly and photo: Alex Cerveniak

Emergence

Dragonflies crawl out of the water onto rocks, woody debris, or the shoreline to emerge so this phase of their life cycle is not important to the angler, however, the process is still pretty cool.

Adult

photo: Alex Cerveniak

Size: ~25mm to 75mm

Habitat:

Dragonflies adults can be found flying near all bodies of water

Behavior:

Dragonfly adults are excellent flyers, and rarely find themselves on the water except for brief dips during egg laying. Still, for warmwater species such as largemouth bass, an adult dragonfly imitation can still produce.

Imitations:

Extended Body Foam Dragonfly- Click Photo for Recipe

Additional Photos

photo: Alex Cerveniak	photo: Alex Cerveniak	photo: Alex Cerveniak
photo: Alex Cerveniak	photo: Alex Cerveniak	photo: Alex Cerveniak

References
TroutNut.com’s Dragonfly Page
Good dragonfly info and excellent photography

Wikipedia’s Dragonfly Page Good dragonfly info