The Mayfly Adult After drying their wings the mayflies fly to a nearby shrub, tree or bush. Not being very good fliers, their two or three tails, are thought to aid in stabilizing them, though to our eyes they appear like a lot for them to maneuver and carry. Here the duns molt into a second adult phase called spinners. Their second pair of wings now fully developed, they are also sexually mature. After a few hours or up to a day, they usually , though not always, return to over the water, where they mate. The males will swarm, and the females fly into the swarm and choose their mate. After mating the females lay their eggs, and both male and female die. Trout also key on this stage as the ‘spent wing' spinners give the mayfly one last chance to ‘offer' itself to the awaiting trout. From our point of view it is hard to deny that the mayfly's life is nothing but a gift to the wild trout. And the recognition of this fact centuries ago was a gift of one careful observer to the generations of fly fisher's that have followed.

Do Fish See in Color The fly fisherman also must remember that color behaves differently in water that it does when seen in the air. Water is denser, and the colors are diffused quicker. Cloudy days where there is less overall light will offer less visibility, and colors will disappear quicker in the depths of the water. And the clarity of water obviously greatly effects this as well. This is important in fly selection because certain colors travel farther in low light than others. Red is the first color to disappear, usually at about 15 feet in clear water, followed by orange and then yellow. Blues and greens are visible to the fish as long as there is light. Yet silver and white will be brighter. So while the Mickey Finn is obviously a great choice as an attractor fly, it would not be as good a choice in murky water or if fished deep. A better attractor might be a white Woolly Bugger or White Marabou Muddler.

Choosing The Proper Fly Fishing Leader and Tippet Selecting the correct tapered leader and tippet for the type of fishing you are about to do is crucial. Nothing can spook fish quicker than an oversized tippet for the particular situation. On the other hand, and undersized tippet can result in the fly fisher losing their trophy before they even get a photo opportunity. We will start at the very basic of leader and tippet selection and then get more specific, and hopefully conclude with enough information so we'll always have the proper leader and tippet for all upcoming fishing scenarios.

Red River Ranch -- Southern Utah -- is Now Listed with AmericanFlyFishingVacations.com
Private Waters of Red River Ranch are comprised of nearly 2000 acres of grass and sage pastures, alfalfa fields, river bottoms and some of the best private waters fly-fishing in America. The Lodge was named by Travel & Leisure as .

Fishing forecast (Orlando Sentinel)
FRESHWATER: You can catch your limits of bluegills and shellcrackers if you fish near North Steer Beach in East Lake Toho. There have been plenty of quality fish in the area for most of the past two months. Use crickets and redworms at fir.