Fly Fishing In May Podcast

Fly Fishing in May Podcast by Harry Murray

In this months fly fishing podcast I will be discussing what you can expect will be happening on the mountain trout streams and the smallmouth bass rivers. May is a good time of year to hit both the native brook trout streams in the Shenandoah National Park and the Shenandoah River for bass.

Fly Fishing in May on the Mountain Trout Streams

The Little Yellow Stonefly (Isoperla bilineata) hatch is heavy this time of year. The natural little yellow stonefly nymphs develop in the back eddies, around leaf jams, and around mossy rocks in the middle of the streams. Using a Murray’s Little Yellow Stonefly Dry size 16 on a Classic 9ft 6X Leader, I drift my fly along the edges of these areas and it seldom lets me down.

Fly Fishing in May with Little Yellow Stoneflies — Fly Fishing in May–Many trout feed heavily on the little yellow stoneflies along the leaf jams in the slow parts of the river now.

This month you will also notice the Light Cahill (Stenonema canadense) hatch. This usually occurs throughout the month of May. I match this hatch with a Light Cahill Dry size 16 and a Murray’s Yellow Drake Dry Fly size 16. My friend always fishes a Mr. Rapidan Soft Hackle Olive Nymph size 16 during this hatch with great success.

In the last half of May the Sulphur Hatch (Ephemerella dorothea) will occur. You will get your best fishing by staying on the streams and fishing until dark. The upper reaches of the streams in the Shenandoah National Park tend to have heavier sulphur hatches. You can match this hatch by fishing a Shenk’s Sulphur Dry size 16 or Murray’s Sulphur Dry size 16.

Fly Fishing in May--Hellgrammites — Fly Fishing in May–Many large bass can be caught in heavy water like this now on Murray’s Heavy Black Hellgrammite size 4.

Fly Fishing in May on the Smallmouth Bass Rivers

There are many natural dobsonfly larva located along the cobblestone bottoms and deep pockets of the river. At this time of the year many bass feed heavily on the natural dobsonfly larva. Many years ago I developed the Murray’s Heavy Hellgrammite to match the natural dobsonfly and today it is still a very effective fly. Using a Bright Butt 9ft 2X Leader with a Scientific Angler Indicator helps me fish this fly effectively across the stream bottom.

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