March is a busy month for the serious trout angler in the mountain streams. It is also the time of the year that some bass anglers float the deep sections of the river. In this podcast, I am going to discuss both the trout fishing and the bass fishing along with what flies to use in March.
Trout Fishing in March
Early in March the Epeorus pleuralis mayfly nymph grows rapidly. Then by the second week, many of them are large enough to emerge into the adult duns. At this time the nymphs move to the well aerated lower sections of the riffles where some are washed into the main pool. I fish this period with the Mr. Rapidan Bead Head Nymph size 12 or 14 on a Trout Nymphing Leader.
By the middle of March, this hatch is very heavy. This is a very important phase for the angler to understand. The Eperous pleuralis is one of the few mayflies that comes off the stream bottom with his wings extended as he heads for the surface of the stream. This is the way the trout see the natural so I developed the Mr. Rapidan Emerger to mimic it. I fish the Mr. Rapidan Emerger size 14 upstream so it falls right below the riffle. Then as it drifts downstream, I maintain a tight line on it with my line hand and impart a 6 inch rod lifting motion to the emerger every foot of the drift.
For the last half of March this hatch is so heavy and there are so many rising trout. I fish the Mr. Rapidan Parachute Dry size 14 all the time. If I spot rising trout I go one on one with them. If I don’t see risers, I simply cover the water with this dry.
Bass Fishing
This month the bass will begin feeding but they do not want to fight the strong currents of the river. In order to find a good source of minnows to feed upon where there are only moderate currents, many large bass choose to feed in the back eddies. These are located below the riffles on the side of the river with the slowest current. They may range from 10 to 50 feet in diameter and from 5 to 8 feet deep. The Tungsten Cone Head Marauder in all colors are most effective here. I like to use a Sinking Tip III Fly Line with a 6ft 2X Sinking Leader to fish my streamers in the back eddies. This enables me to swim them slowly across the stream bottom. Stripping them 5 inches every 5 seconds is ideal.
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