The Phenological Fly: A Method for Meeting and Matching the Super Hatches of the West

A.J. Pell is the rector of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Diocese of New
Westminster in British Columbia.

Fly fishing gets its name from the fact that the “bait” is a
creation of natural and artificial materials tied on a hook to resemble
the insects that fish (primarily trout) eat. The object of fly fishing
is to get the trout to mistake one of these artificial “flies” for
the real thing. The trick is to “match the hatch”—that is, to
choose an artificial fly that best approximates the insect form that the
trout are eating at the time the fisher is on the water.

This book provides the insect-challenged fly fisher with a
method—phenology—to determine when a particular breed of insect will
“hatch” from nymph to adult in a stream or small lake; the fisher
who knows this will then know what flies to tie and use at that time and
on that body of water. The author illustrates how this method works by
referring to major hatches in western North America and to eight insects
of importance to western fly fishers. For each insect, he provides at
least one photograph of exceptional quality, as well as a photograph of
at least one artificial fly that imitates that insect particularly well.

This valuable book serves both as an introduction to major fishing
hatches in Alberta, British Columbia, and the northwestern American
states and as a guide to becoming a phenological fly fisher wherever
one’s “home waters” might be.