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Damselfly
We are creating profiles for the natural flies that are relevant to fly fishing and the fly fisherman, if there are any flies that you wish to have listed here please send details to andy@ukfishersonline.com
Damselfly - Enallagma Cyathigerum
This species is similar to the Azure Damselfly, the Variable Damselfly and the Irish Damselfly but can be distinguished by the presence of a single stripe on the side of the thorax and by the shape of the pronotum.
Damselfly Nymph - Larval Stage
The nymph of the Damselfly is without a shadow of a doubt the most important stage to the fly fisherman. Mainly found in colours ranging from a dark olive green and a dark brownish colour, but later in the year will become lighter in colour and slightly smaller in size.
The Damselfly nymph gets up to about 25 mm long (one inch) when ready to hatch into an adult. Younger generations will also be in the lake and these will vary in size depending on the age.
Trout will eat Damselfly nymphs from early spring right through to late autumn.
Imitation
A suitable pattern to imitate the Damselfly nymph is pictured here.
It has a short hackle to represent the legs with a ribbed body and a marabou tail to represent the breathing filaments.
This pattern can be fished in all manner of ways to produce some stunning takes, a shallow fast retrieve will often produce bow waves from the chasing trout which can be a heart stopping experience to say the least. When fished correctly in this manner it produces a visually exhilarating feast.
If you have not fished the Damselfly nymph in this way I thoroughly recommend it purely for the visual experience if nothing else.
Sometimes a fly tied with an extremely long marabou tail will produce far more takes than a more natural representation as will using some of the brighter colours of Damsel nymphs, but if you find the trout are taking short or you feel the take but just cannot hit them, try nipping the tail slightly shorter with some nail clippers to get that positive take.
On quiet days a slowly figure of eight retrieve on a deeply fished Damsel nymph will often produce, as will the gold head patterns of damsels fished on a floating line with a steady "sink and draw" retrieve.
I have fished Damsel nymph patterns in a multitude of styles ranging from the sedate to the extremely fast and never tire of the reactions I see from the trout.
A firm favourite and a great fly to use when showing or teaching the budding fly fisherman.
Damselfly - Adult Stage
The adult Damselfly is not really a great concern for the fly fisherman as the trout eat so few of them.
But that said it is on occasion that I have seen trout take a spent adult Damsel and on very rare occasions seen trout leap clear of the water to take an adult.
Patterns tied to represent the adult can be very impressive to look at, but in reality it is not a major part of the trout´s diet.
I far prefer to watch the adult damselfly´s antics than fish with this pattern.
Often confused with the Dragonfly, but notice in the picture that the Damselfly can fold its wings back along its body, which is something the Dragonfly cannot do, giving an instant difference to allow simple recognition.