When you spot trout rising to feed on the surface and there is no hatch, there is a good chance the trout are feeding on the Inchworm. These are much more plentiful on most trout streams than we often suspect. That inchworm hanging down from the tree limb above by his slender thread will not last long. The bouncing action he creates on the surface of the stream will lure a trout from ten feet away.
In fact, this is our cue as to one very effective way to fish our Inchworm fly. Streams with deeply undercut banks such as Armstrong in the Rockies and Big Spring Creek in Pennsylvania often provide excellent feeding stations under these banks. A careful angler can sneak up the bank and dap an Inchworm right over the bank with a bouncing action and easily catch these trout.
Another ploy which I often use is to deliver my Inchworm so it splashes onto the stream as one would if it fell from a tree limb. This is an easy presentation to make with a roll cast. Or, you can use a regular presentation and just as the fly is turning over in the air, snap your wrist forward and the fly will splash onto the stream.
Recommended Fly: Murray’s Inchworm size 14