The Light Cahill Parachute Dry Fly - From the middle of May to September, depending on where you live, hatches of different varieties of light colored mayflies now commonly known as Light Cahills can be found.

PARACHUTE EMERGER DRY FLIES. Hook size 12 14 16 18 20 24 - $US each

This is a recent collective common name that covers many groups of the Heptageniidae family of mayfly insects. In the 1880's a New York railroad worker called Daniel Cahill developed a fly that became famous all over America, the Light Cahill. It is a great general imitation of summer mayfly duns. Just choose the hook size and color to match your local hatch. In smaller sizes the Light Cahill is a useful fly to imitate hatches of Pale Morning Duns, pale watery Duns, Spurwings, Pale Evening Duns and the Red Quill Mayfly. The Pale Morning Dun (PMD) hatch is normally in the summer and massive in numbers, triggering aggressive trout feeding. The hatch normally happens in slow, clear water. The PMD is normally best matched with a size 18 hook fly. The Red Quill mayfly is not as widespread as other mayflies but if they live in the river you are fishing, you will find that this fly is an important insect to have imitations of. The reason being is that they occur in large numbers when they hatch and these are the flies that the trout want. Hatches are normally in the afternoon.

The Light Cahill is a good imitation for the Pale Watery (Baetis fuscatus) likes streams and rivers. The spinner is seldom seen in large swarms and often falls to the water earlier in the evening than others. But if the trout are being picky about what they take they often prefer a Pale Watery rather than other spinners. This fly can be used to represent mayfly duns and spinners. Treat with floatant and fish on the surface. Leave the fly to drift with the current. Every now and then tug it over a short distance to mimic take-off or give it a twitch to represent the fly being caught in the surface film just before death.

THE ANGLER'S CURSE WHITE FLY
The tiny white fly you encounter on the river bank is commonly known as the Angler’s curse or the white curse as they get up your nose, down the back of your throat and in your face. They are the smallest members of the insect group called Ephemeroptera. There are six different species within the sub family group of Caenis and Brachycercus. I wish the scientist would use easier to pronounce names. I bet some of them had a vicious sense of humour and knowing the fly fishermen would have to pronounce these insects names came up with some real sods.

The tiny white fly you encounter on the river bank is commonly known as the Angler’s curse or the white curse as they get up your nose, down the back of your throat and in your face. They are the smallest members of the insect group called Ephemeroptera. There are six different species within the sub family group of Caenis and Brachycercus. I wish the scientist would use easier to pronounce names. I bet some of them had a vicious sense of humour and knowing the fly fishermen would have to pronounce these insects names came up with some real sods.

Of the six species, three are normally associated with flowing water. They are Brachycercus harrisella, Caenis macrura and Caenis rivulorum. One of these must have been the flies I encountered on the river Wandle. On Stillwater you will find Caenis robusta, Caenis horaria and Caenis luctuosa

The larvae of the Caenis are normally slow moving silt dwellers. There is one that tolerates a faster flow and is often found inhabiting aquatic plants rather than the silt. That one is called Caenis rivulorum. The larvae are very small and cleverly camouflaged. They are of little interest to the larger trout due to their small size but fry will feast on them. The Caenis larvae feed on plants and algae but are partly carnivorous and will feed on dead animal matter they come across.

As with all mayfly larvae, their growth is through a series of moults, during their aquatic development. When they need to emerge and become an adult the nymphs rise to the surface, where the dun hatches. This process can take only a few seconds. The time they decide it is right to hatch varies depending on species and whether the insects have developed in still or flowing water. In early April the first hatches of Caenis appear. They continue through the summer and normally until mid-summer, but as I have found this can extend to late autumn.

Trout love to take emerging mayflies eagerly. All of the different species are similar in shape and colour. The small emerging insect, known as a sub imago has a cream abdomen with a dark brown thorax. The surface of the lake or river can erupt with activity. It is commonly called a boil. You have to be ready to deal with the hatch as some only last for 15 minutes. After this the feeding frenzy ends. The mature adult imago has a white body. The wings are almost transparent. The tails are long, especially on the male. The terrestrial life cycle of these adult insects can be very short, some only 90 minutes. They swarm together, find a mate, copulate in the air and the female can be seen bobbing up and down off the water surface after she lays her eggs before she dies exhausted. Each female can lay about 1,200 eggs.

Just as the trout are feeding on the egg-laying females and the spent spinners, a second rise may occur if you are lucky. The feeding trout cannot believe their luck. The problem for the angler is trying to identify what is going on and serving the trout the fly imitation pattern they are looking for. The fly hook should be no bigger than 18. To imitate the natural fly more accurately would be to tie on a hook size 20 or smaller White Miller

So many times I have heard anglers say "I can’t get the trout to look at any fly I show them" when there is a blanket of tiny white corpses on the water surface. Trout that are actively feeding on caenis will position their heads just inches below the water surface. The only movement they need to do to feed is to lift their head upwards every time a white morsel comes drifting into sight. That close to the surface they only have a small window of vision. Your fly must drift between the eyes of the trout for it to be seen. You have to be accurate when you cast to position your fly correctly for it to drift with the current to where you want it. Time spent practicing drifting is very worthwhile. The small size of these imitation flies needed to fish these hatches may lead to problems of confidence. Again practice is the secret to success. Use a 3-wt or 4-wt rod with a tippet strength of 2 ½ lb. Check for wear and fatigue around the tippet and knots after landing a larger trout. Try fishing a double rig with a small white miller on point and a more buoyant fly like a hook size 16 Griffith’s Gnat as the first fly

Use short drifts over the target trout. A long drift is a waste of precious fishing time. Let it float over the target and lift off as soon as the fly has passed. It is easier to try and pick a fish feeding stationary in one spot. Trout feeding against an obstruction or a river bank have one less direction that they can move in and can be another good option.

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