Upcoming Hatches in Colorado

Fly fishing is one of the staple hobbies of Colorado. Every spring and summer, thousands of outdoor enthusiasts put on their fishing gear, grab their favorite pole, and choose a fly according to where and, more importantly, when they’re fishing. Using an appropriate fly for the time of the season is a make or break factor that determines success rates in catching on the river.

So let’s look at a time schedule of upcoming hatches in Colorado starting in March. For the Midge (chironomidae), hatching season starts in early March and continues on through the end of October. Most midges can be found emerging throughout most times of the day. The same hatching times apply to the Blue Winged Olive (B. Parvus) with emergence happening during warm parts of the day as well as cloudy periods.

Up next comes the Western March Brown (Morrisoni). Its hatching season starts in early March and goes on until mid April. Then from late March to mid May, the little olive will be hatching. After that, the Brachycentrus Caddis will have its hatching season from mid April all the way until mid October. Another hatch with the pale morning dun starts and ends around the same time the Brachycentrus Caddis does.

In mid July to mid September, the Little Black Sedge will be hatching and emerging throughout sporadic periods throughout the day. For many different types of sedges, emergence is sporadic and throughout the day.

Mayflies are also another notable bug species on the river. The blue winged olive, starting in early March and continuing on through mid November, can be found emerging during cloudy periods and during warm parts of the day. The brown drake, hatching from mid June to mid July, can be found emerging during the evening. The red quill, which also hatches between mid june and November, usually emerges during mid morning hours.

Some bugs, such as the giant golden stonefly, its emergence happens after the salmonflies hatch. Others bugs emergence periods through out the day more-so depend on the temperature of the water.

These are just a few of the many species of insects whose habitat lies on the river. These emergence periods throughout the day are important to note because these swarms of bugs will attracts higher concentrations of fish on the river. If you’d like to look further into fly fishing and the various insects that are associate, then you should go check out Fly Fishing Colorado!