Fly Fishing in March

Trout Fly Fishing in March

March can be a wonderful time to fish the mountain trout streams for wild brook trout. The Eperous pluralis nymphs are our first major mayfly hatch in the mountains. They become very active in the riffles and are growing to full size as they move to the lower sections of the riffles.

Early in March, I fish a Mr. Rapidan Bead Head Nymph size 14 upstream dead drift by casting it below the riffle. To help detect the strike I use my Nymph Leader 5X which has two Murray’s Fly Shop Indicators built into it. As my nymph drifts back downstream I watch these indicators closely. At the first hint of a strike, I set the hook.

By the second week in March many of these nymphs evolve into emergers and pop their wings to swim to the surface then change into the duns. Here I fish the Mr. Rapidan Parachute Dry size 14 with a Mr. Rapidan Emerger size 14 on a two foot dropper.

Listen to the rest of my Podcast for more trout tips.

Bass Fly Fishing in March

The large bass tend to feed well in March. It seems to me they want a big mouthful to eat and gentle currents on the feeding stations they select. My Murray’s Magnum Streamer series all in size 4 will give them a big mouthful.

The back eddies which form below the riffles on the side of the rivers with the slow current give them excellent feeding stations. These may range from 10 feet to 40 feet in diameter and from 3 to 6 feet deep.

Fish these flies deeply and swim them slowly along the stream bottom by stripping them 6 inches every 10 seconds. I fish each back eddy thoroughly. I often devote a half hour to fish a back eddy 30 feet in diameter.

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