flytie Posted June 3, 2006 Report Share Posted June 3, 2006 I took my dog for her walk down by the river avon tonight, and when we reached the bridge there were chub feeding on the surface everywhere! Then I noticed mayfly duns bouncing up and down by the hawthorn trees. They are Ephemera Vulgata, and in all my years living round here it's the first time I have seen them here. The chub were feasting on them, it was a wonderful sight. Ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted June 3, 2006 Report Share Posted June 3, 2006 I have witnessed quite a few Mayfly hatches and its is a splendid sight, although I wouldn't be able to name the specific variety. Interestingly, I have caught well during the hatch, but the real feeding frenzy seems to start in the evening, when the spent Mayfly fall on the water. It seems to be a time when the trout have no inhibitions in taking almost any dry offering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted June 4, 2006 Report Share Posted June 4, 2006 Fantastic hatch on the thames near me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Fantastic hatch on the thames near me. Good sign that the water quality is improving then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebridges Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 You are sure they are Ephemera Vulgata, rather than Ephemera Danica, Vulgata is far far rarer which i'm sure you are aware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Fantastic hatch on the thames near me. Me too, we get them off the Wye as well. They tried to start up a week or so ago and then gave up but they were in full swing at the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytie Posted June 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 You are sure they are Ephemera Vulgata, rather than Ephemera Danica, Vulgata is far far rarer which i'm sure you are aware. They are a different colour from all the e-danica I have seen which is why I think they are e-vulgata. They are a brown colour not the fawn/yellow/pale green of e-danica. According to Goddards waterside guide they fit the bill perfectly. Being found on a slow flowing river with a muddy bottom and given the darker colour I am fairly sure they are e-vulgata. If you are interested I can send you one? PM with your address if you do. Ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 The highlight of my life as a lad fishing reaches of the crystal clear River coln was witnessing the evening swarms of dancing may fly climbing into the sky and falling again on outstretched wings.... performing their dance of death... then as quickly as they had arrived they were gone again. My first trout on a fly I tied myself was on a very basic may fly imitation just two hackles from a grizzled cock cape tied opposite each other to resemble wings and a few strands of squirrel hair for the tail. As Cranfileld said the fish develop a feeding frenzy and you can catch on almost anything fly like. I remember watching intently a pair of Spotted flycatchers feeding a brood of hungry chicks, catching literally hundreds of them on the wing.. dashing out from the perch and a quick grab and pirouette and back to the ravenous young... Ill bet they got fed up with them (excuse the pun) back then in the late 60,s early 70,s the hatches were prolific on allthe local waters like the upper Thames, Cole, Coln, Windrush Leach and Evenlode... all waters Ive had the good fortune to fish and take some monster natural Brown Trout and Grayling on. happy days. FM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebridges Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 You are sure they are Ephemera Vulgata, rather than Ephemera Danica, Vulgata is far far rarer which i'm sure you are aware. They are a different colour from all the e-danica I have seen which is why I think they are e-vulgata. They are a brown colour not the fawn/yellow/pale green of e-danica. According to Goddards waterside guide they fit the bill perfectly. Being found on a slow flowing river with a muddy bottom and given the darker colour I am fairly sure they are e-vulgata. If you are interested I can send you one? PM with your address if you do. Ft I'm sure you are right flytie. The stronghold for vulgata in the UK is the Thames and M4 corridor. Outside this area they are very rare. I could ask Dr Cyril Bennett, an eminent entomologist to have a look at one if you would like positive ID confirmed. FM, we've had some stunning mayfly hatches here. I've seen really good numbers on the Nar and Wensum this year. As usual it took a couple of weeks for thr trout to get used to mayfly and start taking them. They are on them now though and readily taking the dun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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