Stock Up for Early Season Hatches – Skwala Fly, Salmon Flies, Blue Winged Olives

The Skwala Stonefly is an olive-colored stonefly living on a multi-year life cycle that spends two to three years as a nymph before it grows. It hatches in early spring, around mid-March in certain areas and early April in the Rocky Mountains. This is large stonefly hatch of the year. Water temperatures are rising, and trout are starting to actively feed.

Salmon flies are huge. This giant bug begins to come off as soon as water temperatures stabilize around 50 degrees as flows drop post runoff. Make sure you are sizing up your tapered leader when throwing these flies. They are big, so you want to look at something in the 3X to 4X range.

Blue winged olives are another important early season hatch. This is one of the most prolific mayflies in North American trout streams. Nymphs and Emergers are solid patterns; however, they are good dry-fly insects because they often hatch in impressive numbers and the duns ride the water for a long time before taking flight.

Now is the time to start stocking for those early hatches. RiverBum only sells premium quality flies using only the best materials. Our flies look better, drift better and taste better!