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After drying their wings
mayflies fly to a nearby shrub, tree or bush. Not being very good fliers, their two or three tails, are thought to aid in stabilizing them, though to our eyes they appear like a lot for them to maneuver and carry. Here duns molt into a second adult phase called spinners. Their second pair of wings now fully developed, they are also sexually mature. After a few hours or up to a day, they usually , though not always, return to over water, where they mate. The males will swarm, and females fly into swarm and choose their mate.
After mating females lay their eggs, and both male and female die. Trout also key on this stage as ‘spent wing’ spinners give mayfly one last chance to ‘offer’ itself to awaiting trout. From our point of view it is hard to deny that mayfly’s life is nothing but a gift to wild trout. And recognition of this fact centuries ago was a gift of one careful observer to generations of fly fisher’s that have followed.
Cameron Larsen is a retired commericial fly tier and fly fishing guide. He now operates The Big Y Fly Company. Http://www.bigyflyco.com. He can be reached at info@bigyflyco.com.
