I always look forward to fly fishing in March on the trout streams. Early in the month the Epeorus pleuralis nymphs become very active. A use a Mr. Rapidan Bead Head Nymph size 14 on our Trout Nymph Leader to match this hatch. About two weeks later the flies emerge and the Mr. Rapidan Emerger size 14 is a great match. Simultaneously with the hatching of these emergers there will be many adult Epeorus pleuralis mayflies on the surface of the stream from noon until dusk. To imitate this I switch to a Mr. Rapidan Parachute Dry size 14. The spinners return to the stream about two hours before dark so now the trout are feeding on both duns and spinners. Again I am still using the Mr. Rapidan Parachute Dry.
About the middle of the month the Blue Quill mayfly hatch starts. On some streams this is a very heavy hatch and the trout feed heavily on a Blue Quill Dry size 16. It is a very fragile mayfly and on cold days the duns have trouble drying their wings to fly off the stream. When this occurs the duns are shunted to the back eddies where the trout feed heavily upon them. This hatch continues until the end of Mary and beyond.
Bass Fishing
Granted the water is still cool in March for smallmouth bass fishing, but I still have anglers that enjoy getting out. There are a dozen different locations on the Shenandoah River where the bass will be holding. Let me explain. The bass lie below river crossing ledges in water that may be from 3 to 5 feet deep. The ledge can be from 10 to 50 feet long. It may have 2 or 3 inches of water flowing over it. This ledge breaks the powerful currents so the ideal feeding stations are 1-5 feet downstream of the ledge. Here I use a Murray’s Heavy Black Hellgrammite size 4. Listen to my podcast for more information>>>
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