Winter Stoneflies

As Morgan Lyle notes, you can waste a lot of time in late winter waiting for the first Quill Gordons to come off on eastern streams. Try dark, slim-bodied stonefly nymphs or very small soft hackles to imitate midges and you may forget all about the large mayflies of spring. “The most common winter stoneflies are slim and dark, in size 14 or so. They really get moving around in February, and by March, it’s common to see them walking around on the snow alongside the stream.” In the Schenectady, New York Daily Gazette.