Aquatic insects Fishing

Aquatic insects spend all or part of their lives in water. They are very diverse and abundant in freshwater, especially in rivers and lakes, where fish feed on their immature and adult forms. So prominent are aquatic insects in the diet of trout that they form the basis of most fly fishing activities for trout in rivers and streams, and are the object imitated by countless artificial flies.

The most abundant aquatic insects are mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, midges, dragonflies, and damselflies. They have varying life cycles, generally a year but ranging from two months to four years. That life cycle encompasses the egg to the immature nymph that emerges on the water’s surface, where it hatches into a winged adult. Depending on species, life after hatching lasts only a few hours, days, or weeks; the adults mate, lay eggs on the water, and die. During each of these stages, they are consumed by fish, and artificial flies need to imitate the proper species and stage of the respective aquatic insects. Some anglers develop a great understanding of aquatic insects for both their fly tying and fly fishing endeavors.

See: Caddisflies; Dobsonflies, Fishflies, and Alderflies; Dragonflies and Damselflies; Mayflies; Midges; Stoneflies; Terrestrial Insects.