Hiwassee Hatch Chart

Don Denney's Hiwassee Hatch Chart [ top ] - - - - - - - - -JAN---MAR---MAY---JUL---SEP---NOV--- - - - - - - - - ----FEB---APR---JUN---AUG---OCT---DEC early brown stone -- -X XX -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- hendrickson ......-- -- -- XX -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- blue wing olive ..-- -- -- XX XX XX -- -- -X XX XX -- grannom ..........-- -- -- XX -- -- -- -- -- XX -- -- brown caddis .....-- -- -X XX XX XX XX XX XX XX X- -- sulfur ...........-- -- -- -- XX X- -- -- -- -- -- -- cream caddis .....-- -- -- -- -X X- -- -- -- -- -- -- golden stonefly ..-- -- -- -- XX XX -- -- -- -- -- -- isonychia ........-- -- -- -- XX XX XX XX XX -- -- -- light cahill .....-- -- -- -- -X XX -- -- -- -- -- -- yellow sally .....-- -- -- -- -- XX -- -- -- -- -- -- paraleps .........-- -- -- -- -- XX -- -- -- -- -- -- trico ............-- -- -- -- -- -- XX XX XX X- -- -- white mayfly .....-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- XX -- -- -- winter stonefly ..XX X- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -X XX midges ...........XX X- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -X XX other stuff ......-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - - - - - - - - -JAN---MAR---MAY---JUL---SEP---NOV--- - - - - - - - - ----FEB---APR---JUN---AUG---OCT---DEC For a more comprehensive hatch reference,see Tailwaters of Southern Appalachia by Carl Richards, available from Troutsouth More info on some of these critters is available at: FAOL Entomology Back To Top Early Brown Stonefly I don't care what the calendar says, spring starts for me in late February when the maples bloom. Most folks call it budding, but if you look closely, there are jillions of tiny red flowers. When these appear, the early brown stoneflies come off on the Hiwassee. Some places are better than others. My favorite is above the powerhouse, just upstream from the 2 turbine high water line. About 4 pm when the ridge shades the water, fish will be rising. They take egg laying adults, and sometimes a sz 14 brown elk hair caddis will do. I personally fish a sz 12 brown hackle peacock, wet or dry. If that fails a sz 18 pheasant tail with half a twiston above my tippet knot works wonders, deep and slow. Back To Top Hendrickson In April when the dogwoods bloom, hendricksons do their thing on the Hiwassee. My favorite place is the area just above Little Rock Island on the trail side of the river. About 1 pm, if you're lucky, they come off. Some folks use hendricksons, red quills, comparaduns, and such. I just use my general purpose sz 12 grey hackle peacock and do ok. Back To Top Blue Wing Olive Blue wing olives are a spring and fall event here. Some are sz 18, but many are 22-24. I really don't pursue these like some folks do, but if I come across them (sometimes heavy for hours) I fish my sz 18 grey hackle peacock wet or dry, or a pheasant tail. I know many folks who like to piddle with a sz 18 parachute adams, which is highly visible because of the white post. Serious folks use emergers and such, and bwo's account for some very good fish. Overcast days are considered better. Back To Top Grannom Sometimes in the spring, noonish is when I have observed them, grannoms come off and the fish get picky. Look closely for small dark grey winged caddis. There are other species with black wings (chimarra), but I treat them all the same. I use a dry sz 18 grey hackle peacock, but other folks use ehc or emergers. My experience has been that the hatches don't last too long, but the fish sure get picky for them. Grannoms are the ones that have the little square "stickbait" cases. I keep fish now and then, and in the spring a lot of fish are chock full of these. I've never had any success myself with cased caddis imitations, but I manage to catch a lot of fish then with my old reliable brown hackle peacock. Back To Top Brown Caddis I personally don't distinguish between cinnamons, little sisters, and greens. Greens are bigger and little sisters are smaller. I just fish my sz 12 brown hackle peacock, wet or dry, and catch plenty of fish. You can look around and find these laying eggs almost anytime except the very coldest months, and even then on a warm sunny day you will see some. Other folks use ehc or emergers. Back To Top Sulfur In the late spring (Mayish) when the mountain laurel is blooming, sulfurs come off in the late afternoon, and sometimes continue well into June. This is one of our better hatches. We have great variety, but not a lot of really heavy hatches in recent years, that I have seen. My favorite place is the shoals below Fox's Cabin. I personally fish a sz 18 grey hackle yellow dry. Other folks use small light cahills, sulfur patterns, and such. If there are splashes but no hookups on dries, try a pheasant tail in the film. Back To Top Cream Caddis During the early part of the sulfur season, earlier in the afternoon we sometimes get a good hatch of cream colored small caddis, with lots of rising fish. I fish them the same as the sulfurs, but a small light ehc might be even better. Not sure about the species, the wings are shaped like some kind of glossosoma. Back To Top Golden Stonefly In the spring and early summer, we sometimes see big egg laying golden stones. They are sporadic, but some folks like to fish sofa pillows and such on heavy water. I have found big perla nymphs to be effective, deep and slow, all year long. I like to fish them early in the morning (big stoneflies in the east hatch at night). They are also worth trying anytime nothing is happening. We also have salmonflies, but they are also sporadic. I just fish my perla nymphs. Back To Top Isonychia In late May, the thimbleberries bloom and Isonychias start popping. Both the thimbleberries and Isonychias continue to September or October. This is my favorite hatch. The dries are sporadic, maybe a little more concentrated mid-afternoon. The nymphs are good all summer. When I see flies popping and fish rising, I fish a sz 12 grey hackle peacock dry. This gets refusals in flat water, and I used to tie a version with dark wings that cut down on the refusals a lot, but I'm just too lazy to fool with it anymore. Other folks use red quills, hendricksons, comparaduns, emergers, and such. If you've never seen the nymphs, they are awesome. Lay one in your hand, and it will flip like a minnow. They swim like minnows, and you can fish them like streamers. Other times they want them dead drifted deep. An unexplained phenomenon is why we have such a variety of isonychia sizes on the Hiwassee. Some look like hendricksons, and some look like bats. I'm convinced some of the nymphs stay in the river more than one year. Back To Top Light Cahill Personally, I have never seen a concentrated light cahill hatch on the Hiwassee. This may cause a little confusion, because some of the old timers refer to sulfurs as light cahills. The cahills are sporadic, about any time of day, but the fish are glad to see them. If I happen to see a fish take one, I would put on just about any kind of dry fly and cast to the fish. Back To Top Yellow Sally In June one sometimes comes across fairly heavy hatches of yellow sallies in the middle of the day. This is a really good time for Tellico Nymphs and such. I just fish my grey hackle yellow wet. Back To Top Paraleps Also in June in the middle of the day, little dark paraleps sometimes hatch. They are also known as small mahogony duns, and I fish my grey hackle peacock dry. A small adams will get some fish, and there are specific ties for these. My favorite place is the Fox's Cabin pool. Another similar species of paraleps come off in April, but those are usually less concentrated. Back To Top Tricos Tricos on the Hiwassee are not publicized much. Easier to fish for them when the water is shut off in the morning. They come off regularly from July to the first heavy frost. The spinner fall theoretically occurs when the air temp reaches 68 F. This often happens when the sun first hits the water, and tends to be later in the morning later in the year. There are places where fish rise to them well. My small grey hackle peacock or grey hackle yellow works fine. If you're used to fishing for these things out west or up north, the same flies you use there will work. Back To Top White Mayfly Yet another of the Hiwassee's little known hatches is the white mayfly. I was turned on to these by Col. Tom O'brien. Hope you get a chance to meet him sometime on the river. Anyway, they come off in September (I didn't see any this year, 2000), right at dark. I understand some of them molt to spinners in midair, mate, and go right back to lay eggs. Again, I just fish my small grey hackle yellow, but a sz 14 white wulff is sometimes recommended by other folks. Back To Top Winter Stonefly When the water temp gets low 40's, usually January to early February, you will find these all over your headlights when you get to the river. Sometimes fish rise to them, but a pheasant tail fished deep and slow is more reliable. Back To Top Midges Midges of one kind or another are around just about anytime on the Hiwassee. They shine in the cold months, when they are the only game in town except maybe winter stones, perla nymphs, or streamers. Fish find slow water and sip adults or emergers. I fish my sz 18 grey hackle peacock, or a pheasant tail in the film. Other folks use bwo's, small adams, or midge ties or emergers. My favorite place is next to the railroad bank at the lower end of the island below the powerhouse boat ramp. There is a slow stretch that catches a lot of detritus and hatches a lot of midges (and bwo's). Back To Top Other Stuff The Hiwassee has an exceptional variety of hatches. We don't have Green Drakes or March Browns for some reason. Any medium size dark mayfly you see before April is probably a Quill Gordon, but they usually aren't very concentrated and go unnoticed by the fish. If you see something yellow the size of a bat, it's a Golden Drake. We have some in the spring, and they also usually go unnoticed. We have sowbugs and scuds in places, but not as thick as the Clinch. If you like to fish these they will catch some fish. If the fish are active, fish your favorite fly hard and you will probably catch some fish. I dress fish from time to time, and most of the bigger fish eat a lot of minnows or crawfish. The holdover browns usually have salmon colored flesh from all the crawfish they eat. We have plenty of sculpins, but My favorite streamer is one I tie to imitate the Warpaint Shiner. A friend of mine, Gene Niles, refers to them as "native cutthroats". I have noticed that most of the fish I find in trout are Warpaints. They feed in the same lies that trout like. They have big mouths, and take dry flies, or even sz 8 nymphs. Sometimes they just grab hackles and pull your dry under, very annoying. Another friend, Dean Tuttle, claims to hold the world record for Warpaint Shiners on a dry fly. Late in the summer I catch some fish that are totally fixated on leeches. I come across a 3" hellgramite from time to time, but the fish are probably afraid of them. Jerry Cass likes riffle beetles in June, and ants and terrestrial beetles are good when you see them about, as are grasshoppers and leaf hoppers. Back To Top