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Viking Lars | Saturday, 8 June 2019

It's June 8th, and that means that the hatch of E. danicas is full on. The big insects attract the attention of even the biggest of trout and grayling in the stream, fish you'll likely never see on the surface the rest of the season. That alone is of course the big attraction for the flyfisher - a personal best on the dry, in the danica-season is a real opportunity.

I've been unable to get on the water for 3 months due to a back injury, and although I'm on the mend, I'm still not quite fit for fishing yet, so I can't fish this years danica-hatch, which of course annoys me to no end. My biggest brown trout on the dry fell to a danica-imitation and the danica-hatch is a lovely spectacle of nature to experience, and even though the insects are big enough to drag up the big ones, it's far from easy - especially now the hatch has been on for about 10 days, and the furhter into the hatch we get, the more picky the fish become.

I made a handful of videos last year for the Ahrex Hooks YouTube channel with my favourite patterns for this hatch.
The French Partridge is a great allround fly that catch most of the fish, especially in the beginning of the hatch.
A Danica-emerger is as important in the hatch as it is in most other hatches. This is the one I prefer.
Further into the season, the fish get more picky and often you need a better imitation. I carry Oliver Edwards' Mohican Mayfly,  but I don't resort to that until I've given this pattern of my own a chance, and it works most of the time. This is the one I caught my PB on.
The Danica spinnerfall is something else to witness, and it can be notoriuusly easy to fish, and notoriously difficult. This pattern works as well as most.
Sometimes, especially before a day's hatch really catches on, a nymph can provide some fishing if you're impatient. I designed this one many years ago, and it's always done well for me. I fish it from *really* heavy to unweighted, depending on circumstances and fish behaviour.

The spinnerfall doesn't occur every evening, but it's predictable. Check the lee-side of large trees and bushes for spinners doing their up-down aerial dance. If there are many, they'll most likely fall that same evening. If they're all just sitting, they'll most likely wait for more favourable conditions. They usually never fall in windy condiotions, and that often means good fishing on long, calm sunner evenings with rising fish well into the evening, even dusk. And that perhaps is the true magic of this hatch.

If you have a stream nearby with a danica-population, you still have a few days to get out there and catch this spectacle and most likely a fish or two.

Have a great weekend,
Lars