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South Fork of the Snake River - Hatch Chart		Expand All

By: Todd Lanning

May Flies

	Mar	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov - Feb

Pale Morning Dun (Ephemerella inermis)

Western Green Drake (Drunella grandis)

Mahogany Dun (Paraleptophlebia icornuta)

Blue Winged Olive (Baetis, several species)

Western March Brown (Rhithrogena morrisoni)

Hex (Hexagenia Limbata)

Caddis Flies

	Mar	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov - Feb

Grannom (Brachycentrus)

Spotted Sedge (Hydropsyche)

October Caddis (Need this information)

Stone Flies

	Mar	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov - Feb

Salmon Stonefly (Pteronarcys californica)

Golden Stonefly (Acroneuria, classenia)

Yellow Sally Stonefly (Isoperla, alloperla)

Mutant Stonefly (Isoperla, alloperla)

Skwala Stone (Skwala americana)

Midges

	Mar	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov - Feb

Midge (Chironomidae)

Terrestrials

	Mar	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov - Feb

Hoppers

Beetles

Ants

1 800.483.2110 | E Mail | Online Reservation Request | P.O. Box 22 Swan Valley, Idaho 83449 | Contact

Site Design:

	Nymph Type:	Crawler	Hook Size:	16, 18, 20
Characteristics:	Three tails. Light gray wings. The body is bright yellow olive to light tan or pink. Body colors vary widely according to stream.
Timing of hatches:	Early June through August. Related species can emerge well through September. Duns emerge mid-mornings and can extend throughout the day. Spinners fall in the morning and late evenings.
Habitat:	Medium to fast water with gravel or rocky bottom. Very common throughout the region including all sections of the Henry's Fork, South Fork, Madison, Firehole, and other waters of Yellowstone Park.
Comments:	Pale Morning Duns or PMDs provide some of the finest dry fly action of the summer. Nymphs, emergers, cripples, duns and spinners are very important to catch the most selective trout. Spinners vary according to sex. Male spinners have a rusty body while the body color of the females is yellow olive.
Patterns:	Pheasant Tail Nymph, PMD Nymph, Halfback Emerger, CDC Emerger, PMD Paracripple, PMD Thorax, PMD Parachute, Grey Yellow Nohackle.

	Nymph Type:	Crawler	Hook Size:	10, 12
Characteristics:	Three tails. Dark gray wings with bright olive green body. The body quickly darkens to dark reddish or olive brown after emergence. Timing of hatches: June into early July. Duns normally emerge during the late mornings. Spinners fall early in the morning. Best activity occurs on cloudy, humid days.
Timing of hatches:	The Green Drake hatch often takes place during cool spring afternoons. It can be challenging because the large flies are easy for trout to inspect in the daylight and they feed very selectively, especially late in the hatch.
Habitat:	Medium to fast water sections of the Henry's Fork, South Fork of the Snake, Yellowstone and other surrounding waters. Especially common on the Last Chance section of the Henry's Fork and the tailwater section between Ashton and St. Anthony.
Comments:	Due to the wide distribution of the species, color variations exist from stream to stream. The body color of the duns is considerably darker on the South Fork of the Snake. A related species, Timpanoga hecuba is common on the Lamar River and tributary streams including Slough Creek and Soda Butte Creek as well as the Upper Snake System near Jackson, Wyoming. The emergence period of this species occurs in late August, September and early October.
Patterns:	Green Drake Nymph, Hare's Ear Nymph, Green Drake Emerger, Green Drake Cripple, CDC Emerger, Green Paradrake, Mike's Green Drake, Green Drake Spinner, Rusty Spinner.

	Nymph Type:	Crawler	Hook Size:	16, 18
Characteristics:	Three tails. Dark gray wings with streamlined, dark mahogany body.
Timing of hatches:	The most important emergence occurs in late August through early October. Duns emerge during mid morning while spinners fall in the later afternoon to early evening hours.
Habitat:	Slow to medium fast gravel bottom water. Mahogany Duns are common on the Harriman Park stretch of the Henry's Fork, the South Fork of the Snake and several other local waters.
Comments:	The Mahogany Duns provide some of the finest dry fly fishing of the late summer on the Harriman Park and other waters. There are a number of other species that emerge throughout the summer but the late season is the best. Emergence takes place at the surface making an emerging nymph pattern very effective when trout are rising.
Patterns:	Pheasant Tail Nymph, Mahogany Dun Emerger, Mahagony Dun Parachute, Mahogany Dun Thorax, Slate Tan Nohackle

Blue Winged Olive (Baetis)	Nymph Type:	Swimmer	Hook Size:	18, 20, 22
Characteristics:	Two tails. Light to medium olive/gray body with light to medium gray wings.
Timing of hatches:	Mid-March through Early May, 12:00 PM until 3:00 PM and in the mid-summer around dusk, September through October, from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM
Habitat:	Widespread on most sections of the Henry's Fork, Madison, Firehole, South Fork of the Snake and other local rivers and tributaries.
Comments:	Many species are multi-brood, meaning a species may produce two or more broods during the calendar year. The most important species emerge in the spring and again, in the fall. These mayflies produce exceptional dry fly fishing during these periods. Egg laying Spinners often crawl under the water to oviposit their eggs.
Patterns:	Pheasant Tail Nymph, Halfback Emerger, CDC Emerger, Paracripple, BWO Soft Hackle, BWO Nohackle, Sparkle Dun, Thorax, and Parachute Adams.

	Nymph Type:	Clinger	Hook Size:	14, 16
Characteristics:	Two tails. Dark gray wings with strong dark mottling. Body is dark olive brown to purplish black.
Timing of hatches:	Late spring from mid-April through early June. Duns emerge during mid-morning hours. Spinners fall in the evenings.
Habitat:	Medium to fast water with gravel or rocky bottom. Very common on most sections of the Henry's Fork. Late season species are also common on the Madison, Gallatin, and some waters in Yellowstone Park.
Comments:	March Browns provide exceptional dry fly fishing on the Henry's Fork in May and early June. Transformation from the nymph to the dun usually takes place under the water. Therefore, a soft hackle emerger fished deep can often bring good results. During cooler weather the duns will stay on the surface long enough to provide good dry fly action.
Patterns:	Pheasant Tail Nymph, Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle, March Brown Emerger, Quill Gordon, Slate Olive Thorax, Slate Olive Nohackle.

	Nymph Type:	Burrower	Hook Size:	6, 8, 10
Characteristics:	These are one of the largest of the South Fork dry flies! Wings are a light yellow. Two tails and a yellow body.
Timing of hatches:	Hatch begins early July and sometimes last into August. These flies always emerge in the late evening.
Habitat:	The nymphs are burrowers and need the softer muddy bottoms of the lower river. Soft current and banks with high vegitation.
Comments:	The Hexagenia is confined to the lower river below the confluence where the Henrys Fork and South Fork Come together. Found only in the slowest parts of the river. They are a very temperamental bug and will only emerge in great numbers when conditions are perfect. This hatch will bring very large trout up to the surface to feed.
Patterns:	Pheasant Tail Nymph, Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle, March Brown Emerger, Quill Gordon, Slate Olive Thorax, Slate Olive Nohackle.

	Nymph Type:	Clinger	Hook Size:	10, 12, 14
Characteristics:	Caddisflies are extremely important on all waters of the Henry's Fork region. Their life-cycle consists of an egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species require a year to complete their life-cycle. The larvae are a very important food source for trout, especially during the winter months. All larvae are classifled into three types: Free roaming, net spinners, and case makers. All form a pupa prior to emergence. The pupae are normally far more important during emergence than adults. The egg-laying process either occurs on the surface or females dive under the suface to lay their eggs.
Timing of hatches:	April through October. Emergence and egg laying commonly occurs during the morning or evening hours.
Habitat:	All water types with various bottom structure.
Comments:	Other caddis hatches pale in comparison to the Spoted Sedge and the Grannom. For most anglers, defining caddisflies as to species is not as important as mayflies. Understanding the biology of caddisflies in comparison to mayflies is very important. Properly imitating the pupae, emerging adult and egg-laying adult as to color, size and shape is the key to success.
Patterns:	Tan Electric Caddis, Tan Emergent Sparkle Pupa, Tan Partridge Pupa, Tan Spent Partridge Caddis, Tan X-Caddis, Tan E-Z Caddis.

South Fork of the Snake River - Hatch Chart

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Stone Flies

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Midges

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Blue Winged Olive
(Baetis)