Hendricksons

[The Patriot]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record (I like taking risks, I'm a risk taker :wink: ) does anyone else think this year's Hendrickson hatch is off?

Allow me to make my case:

First, there was virtually no hatch whatsoever below Satan's Kingdom. I was on the water several days and saw very few if any duns, until I got above Satan's Kingdom. The first Hendrickson I saw this year was at Mathies Grove on Tuesday 4/18. On Thursday 4/20 there was a fair hatch in the Barkhamsted TMA, but the fish did not rise for duns.

Second, any hatches have been fair at best, and they have typically been very light, and very sparse. I haven't seen one blanket hatch anywhere this year, which I have in years past, often several times in the same season, and in the same pool, albeit days apart. Even with a fair hatch this year, I have seen very few fish rise to eat duns, maybe one or two in a pool, and not many times, and not for long.

Third, we already have spinners as far up as the Still River. And it's only May 2nd. In years past we have Hendricksons from the Still to the dam almost until Memorial Day, while the lower river is getting their first push of Vitreous/Pale Evening Duns. This view was echoed by several veteran anglers and leading members of the FRAA yesterday.

My prediction..... we are seeing the tail end of this year's Hendrickson hatch. We'll get a few more days of spinners in the upper reaches of the upper TMA and People's Forest, up to the Still, then a light sparse hatch of duns with accompianing spinner falls from the Still to the dam next week, and by next Friday, 5/12, it'll all be a memory.

The Hendricksons are always inconsistent, on one night and off the next, but this is the lightest, sparsest hatch I've seen in 10 seasons.

Anyone else care to weigh in and prognosticate? :D

[pvansch1]

i've only seen a couple. :(
Pete

[ekrause]

I wouldn't know what one looks like if it bit me in the arse :P

[Housy Dave]

Hendrickson? What's a Hendrickson?

:wink:

[Ruby River]

I have been out on the river late in the afternoon/early evening and saw more Hendricksons than ever. Last Sat. was especially heavy hatch with swarms flying upriver.

[hookandhackle]

Do striped bass sip hendricksons? :lol: :P

[The Patriot]

Well you guys are no freakin' help at all....... :P :wink: :lol:

[steve B]

3weight,
depends on what river you are asking about. Farmington is a bit off and from what I have heard and seen the lower TMA it has been even worse. but that could be for may reasons ( high fall & winter flows, low water , the weather has been up and down the more the temps are stable the more condenced the hatch is and the more it seems normal) The hatch is not over yet after this rain and the warmer temps on friday it may pick up. Other rivers have had good hendrickson hatches & earlier than normal. there was about 7 days of good hatches on the willi a few weeks ago ( this was historically 10 to 14 days early for that river. It has been very spotty since. The Natchaug has had a few good day but the fish there don't seem to know they are supposed to rise to them. Niether of them have great hatches in normal years. Of all the mayfly hatches the hendrickson seems the most effected by weather. Hope this helps a bit.

Steve'O

[The Patriot]

Steve,

Thanks for your input!

I was more specifically talking about the Farmington, I should have stated that, but thanks for weighing in on the other streams. (You mean there are other trout streams in CT besides the Farmington? :shock:) :wink: :D

I live close by the Farmington... well, closer than to anywhere else... and I am a hopeless Farmington devotee, much to my detriment. I'm the one dimensional angler who doesn't get out much. :roll: :oops: ... Farmington, Catskills, some salt, been steelheading twice, wanna go again.... but for trout, in CT, it's the Farmington.

I'd like to explore some other rivers, particularly some WTMA's, the Salmon River, the Hous which I've only fished a few times, and I've heard some interesting things about the Natchaug and recently the Shetucket. It just seems that I have so little time to fish and wanna spend it all on the Farmington.

Unlike some here, I am faithful to my first love.... :P :wink: :D

Thanks again for the more global perspective. :)

Regards,

Jim

[lar42]

I've only been fly fishing for a few years but compared to last years Hendrickson hatch this year is nothing. :(

Could the soft winter have had something to do with it?

[Eider]

I was hoping to do the Hendrickson shuffle this year, but hell, it looks like i missed my chance. very disappointing year. I can count the duns that i saw up above the chair factory this afternoon on one hand. ONE HAND. nothing on the Still River (though i don't know if there are usually some on there, i went emploring today) and the saw a few in People's State Forest. This was even less than last week :( .

[The Patriot]

I don't think the soft winter was the problem. In years past a soft winter has been good for insect populations. At least in my experience and observation.

I think it may have had something to do with flooding and high water over the late fall and winter. I hope this doesn't hold true for the hatches to come, Vitreous, Invarias and Dorotheas, Isoncyhia, the late spring and summer broods of BWO.... time will tell.

Again, my biggest concern has been the absence of Hendricksons from Satan's Kingdom to Unionville. Above that, there was a fair hatch up as far as the Still River. But again, in my experience this year, even when there was a fair hatch of bugs, the fish didn't really get on the duns. I didn't see one blanket hatch, not one, and the only time the water boiled with fish was during spinner falls, and then again only from the Barkhamsted TMA up to the Still River.

As the next round of hatches approach, it will be interesting to see if this trend continues.....



Sunday night brought a very good spinner fall to one of the larger pools between the Still River and People's Forest, but it was crowded with about 6 fly anglers and two bait fisherman. Monday night, that same pool was again boiling about 7pm, but again crowded. The next two pools down were much slower, so I was assuming the hatch and spinner falls had progressed above the Still. But Eider's observations around Hitchcock don't support that hypothesis. And last night, Monday, I took a look at the pool below the RT 20 bridge in Riverton, at the same time it was on and poppin' downstream, and it was dead. So that doesn't speak well for spinner falls above the Still.

I'm off to nymph the Housy with Housy Dave for a few hours this afternoon. Perhaps on my way home I'll swing by the upper river about 6pm and see what's happening. The stretch above the Still is usually a bit more sterile, so the hatches are normally somewhat lighter than downstream, but maybe this year's Hendricksons are really over, with no hatch below SK or above the Still....

Next up, tan caddis; then the hatch from he**, aka The Emerald Scourge, a tiny green micro caddis that hatches when there is almost nothing else going on and on which the fish key to the exclusion of anything else that might be, and which is nearly impossible to consistently and effectively imitate; and later in May, Epeorus Vitreous, aka Pale Evening Duns, size 14 to 16 sulphur type fly.

I wonder if we're going to get a March Brown hatch this year? In years past the Farmington has not had a substantial hatch of March Browns, a Steno species, at least not like they get in the Catskills, but I recall the year before last getting a few and hearing of fish taken on their imitations. March Browns can be a very good hatch, if you get enough of them, as they are a large fly, they hatch anytime of day from 11am to 5pm, with good evening spinner falls, and they hatch over an extended period, so the fish get used to seeing them and you can fish emergers and duns almost anytime of day, prospecting the water, and get a few fish to strike.

March Browns, if we see them, will come off about the same time as Vitreous, I think. After that, the last week of May or first week of June, we may start to see some size 14 to 16 E. Invarias, aka Sulphurs.

Let's hope subsequent hatches are more plentiful than this year's Hendricksons. :roll: