A Couple of Evenings with the Light Cahills

The last two evenings have been a couple of the best thanks to very pleasant weather, and great hatches and spinner falls, primarily of Light Cahills (Stenonema sp.).   On Monday evening the Light Cahills were joined by Sulphurs, Isonychias, and various light and dark caddis.  A few Yellow Sallies joined the party as well.  The fish were on the Light Cahills from about 7pm until a little after 8pm, when the Cahills disappeared as quickly as they showed.  The the trout switched over to Sulphur spinners, and were still feeding well when I left the river when it got too dark for my old eyes to see.  It was one of those nights when a good, well-placed cast was rewarded with a take, and many fish came  to hand.

Last night, the Light Cahills were back and stayed until dark.  Curiously, there was only a smattering of the other insects.  It was cooler, and the front was moving in, so maybe that had something to do with it.  The fish were much less cooperative, too, but we still managed to get a few.

I used two flies over the two nights, switching from one to the other each time the one I was using at the time got too water logged from being dragged under by fish.   These two well-chewed flies have been retired.    

Both flies are tied on size 14, standard dry fly hooks.

The extended bodies are elk hair and mallard flank respectively, wings are snowshoe rabbit foot hair, and the thorax is cream rabbit fur.

Sharpen those hooks!