The Trout Underground isn't exactly awash in "how-to" information, but every once in a while I get all helpful and nice, and something useful gets put on paper. This is one of those moments.

Because I'm going to reveal one of my Secret Fall Patterns.

Bees. Those buzzy, stingy things.


Fishing in the Fall? Dieing bees might be your best "hatch"...

Once the cold weather sets in, the bees start dieing. The male honeybee drones die off after being evicted from the hive and worker bees also succumb to the weather - as do a lot of wasps and and the like, the communities of which typically disband in the fall.

The die-off begins first on the high alpine lakes, and as the cold temperatures work their way downhill, the die-off follows.

I've hit the "bee hatch" several times, and fishing a bee pattern can be wild. The trout will gently nudge the fly to see if it's alive, and if you've got the nerves to let it sit, they'll suck it down.

That's fun on a stick.

What about the River?
I only rarely fish bee patterns on the Upper Sac in the Fall (typically preferring the PED, BWO and caddis hatches), but the pattern has worked during the late spring and summer, and I'm batting 50% in the fall (OK, that's writer obfuscation for "I've tried it twice and caught fish once").

Still, last winter I saw dozens of dead bees in the bankside snow, and some of their friends must have ended up in the river.

It's also worth noting that one of the original Ted Fay "Bomber" nymph patterns replicates a drowned bee, and that several big, big fish have been caught on the bug.

The moral?
Despite its "for kids only" reputation, it's time to lay your hands on a few bees - a bug I've used to catch a lot of fish, especially once they start dieing in the fall. It's a killer on the lakes, and can work on the river, though success on moving water seems less assured.

See you in the hive, Tom Chandler.

bees