Caddis

Dragonflies & Damselflies

Written By: Dick Babine

Jason Neuswanger of troutnut.com and Richard J. Babine of richard@thebabines.com have generously authorized the use of all macro photographs used in this chapter.

Kingdom:	Animalia	(Animals)
Phylum:	Arthropoda	(Arthropods)
Class:	Insecta	(Insects)
Order:	Odonata	(Dragonflies)
Subrder:	Anisoptera	(Dragonflies)
Family:	Gomphidae	(Dragonflies)
Genus:	Hagenius
Species:	brevistylis

Common Names: Dragonflies, Darners, Clubtail, Gomphus and Skimmers

As the average angler glides across the smooth currentless waters of any of our local ponds, lakes, and the many quiet sections of rivers and streams, little is seen of the tremendous abundance of life that exists in and around these warm water environments. An angler may observe the occasional comings and goings of both Dragonflies and Damselflies but on the whole this angler is completely unaware of the existence and importance of what’s going on below the waters surface.

The educated angler will spend some time in order to get a handle on what’s down there and its importance in determining two critical aspects of success, fly selection and presentation. An effective way of determining the presence and predominant aquatic insects is to net or seine samples along weedy sections of the shoreline, shallow water sections of flats and across the off-shore weed beds. After the sampling has taken place, the net or seine will be full of aquatic plant life, decayed organic debris, along with a host of aquatic creatures such as: scuds, sowbugs, crayfish, shrimp, burrowing mayfly nymphs, water boatmen, diving beetles, and both caddis and midge larvae. All these creatures play an important roll in the quiet waters food chain. Just as in the moving waters of your local rivers and streams, the predominant species will in fact be the best choice for selecting the appropriate imitation for presentation.

There is a process of observing these creatures that will better determine the proper imitation and that’s to place the samples into a small amount of water in a container that has a white background. This white background will aid greatly in displaying the true colors, shape, and proper size of the specimen. This method will insure the angler in having far more knowledge than the average angler not to mention the reward of having much more success at the end of the day.

*Note*…If the angler cares to collect the specimens for the short term, then simply drop the specimen into a small bottle of isopropyl alcohol for several days. This will protect the specimen until you can prepare it for much longer storage. The disadvantages of the isopropyl storage over the long haul are that the solution will cause the specimen to become very brittle and thus difficult to handle. The other disadvantage is that the specimens color will fade in time, creating a false characteristic to the specimen. The best storage medium is Hood’s solution which is: 95cc of 70% Ethyl Alcohol and 5cc of Glycerin. The best storage containers are small glass vials. If you keep the specimen in this solution, the color won’t fade as quickly and the specimen will retain some of its non rigid characteristics.

Try to become a collector of insects and crustaceans in order to become much more aware of the characteristics that will determine the correct color, size and shape which will turn a non productive day into one filled with great memories.

The adult Dragonfly can’t fold its wings along its back. Dragonflies are usually much bigger and thicker bodied than Damselflies. Both are very predacious in both the Nymphal and Adult stages. Nymphs will feed on almost any creature including small fish.

Life Cycle

Adults mate in flight and can often be seen flying in tandem. The fertilized female ‘oviposites’ her eggs into woody vegetation or in some cases over open water or burrowed into the bottom sediments.

Metamorphosis is incomplete and when the eggs hatch they are just a smaller version of the later stages. These Nymphs live and grow in the water column and molt there shells 10 to 12 times before they are ready hatch into the adult stage. The Nymphs will crawl onto the shore or shoreline vegetation to complete the hatch. Most of the Dragonflies will take one to two years to complete a generation but this can be much longer in some species.

Appearance

Dragonfly nymphs have large bulbous eyes and generally have a thick, cigar shaped body. In cross-section, the abdomen is somewhat triangular shaped, being flat on the bottom and slightly ridged on top. The legs of a dragon fly nymph are fairly pronounced in comparison to other aquatic insects. Dragonflies don’t go through a pupal stage and therefore have an incomplete aquatic life cycle. The adults develop two pairs of wings and the abdomen lengthens and narrows before flight.

Size

Many Darner nymphs get up to 40mm in length (1.5”) when ready to hatch into the adult stage.

Color

Shades of black and light green are the two most common colors. Some species are darker green, gray and even reddish brown.

Movement

This nymph will crawl around the aquatic vegetation and shoreline decaying debris in search of prey. However, when disturbed or otherwise in a hurry, they can use a “jet propulsion” system to rapidly propel themselves. The nymphs have internal gills for which water is sucked into the body and then rapidly expelled providing the force for the emergency locomotion.

Habitat

Since these aquatic creatures are highly predacious, the dragonfly nymphs will stay near available food sources. These are generally found on the shoals or the shoal drop-offs into deeper water. When not feeding they tend to hide under submerged logs and rocks or among bottom vegetation.

Importance to the Angler

Dragonflies are the fourth most important source for both lake and pond fish. They comprise about 7% of the total feeding samples examined. Of all the successful imitations the Dragonfly pattern accounts for 13% of fish caught on all types of flies. There are no studies that I could to determine the percentage differences between day and night catches using this pattern. Remember that when you come across aquatic vegetation, the Dragonfly nymph can be the difference between success and failure.

Hatches

The main hatching activity for these insects peaks about mid-July and of course, lesser hatches before and after the Peak Period. To hatch, the Dragonfly nymphs will migrate to the shoreline and crawl out on the land or up shoreline vegetation. This hatching migration occurs during the low-light conditions of the evening hours.

Damselflies

Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Subrder:	Zygoptera
Family:	Coenagrionidae

Common Names: Damsel, Narrow Wing and Bog Dancer

As adults, Dragonflies and Damselflies are often mistaken for each other. However, Damselflies can fold their wings over their backs and parallel to their bodies. Dragonflies can’t do this. The Damselfly also has a much slender appearance and finer features. The key difference is the tail structures of the larval stages of these insects. The damselfly will have three blade-like caudal appendages with which it propels itself. The dragonfly will also have three appendages, but they are very short.

These aquatic insect also differ in their style of motion in the water. The damselfly will swim like a small bait fish and the dragonfly will expel gas through its anus and thus propels itself in short spurts.

Life Cycle

Most Damselflies complete a life cycle in one year but some species can take longer. The adults mate over the shallow water, sometimes in flight but often while clinging to exposed portions of weed beds or shoreline vegetation. Immediately after mating, the female will crawl down the vegetation, and ‘into’ the water to lay her eggs on the submerged portion of the vegetation. When these eggs hat

ch they do not go through the larval and pupal transformations. The newly hatched Damsel is simply a smaller version of the adult. The Damselfly nymph is very predacious. Usually the insect lies in wait for other aquatic insects to get within range and then grabs them with its ‘labium’, which is much like a modified lower jaw.

The nymph will proceed through 10 to 12 ‘molts’ or ‘instars’ before becoming fully developed and ready to emerge as an adult. Finally the nymph will swim towards the shore and crawl up the shoreline vegetation. While clinging to the vegetation the nymphal shuck will break along the wing case and out crawls a shortened version of the adult. Before taking flight, the new adult must pump body fluids into its wings and abdomen, which will cause both sections to lengthen into the familiar form seen along the waters edge. Depending on the species, this adult insect will live for several weeks to several months. Meanwhile the nymph of the next generation will migrate to the deeper water in the fall. It will hibernate over the winter and return to the shallow water the following spring to begin the process anew.

Appearance

The adult has four wings that it can fold down over its back. The male of the species is colored blue while the female is more of a slate color. For the nymph, a fairly large and bulbous head sits on a tubular shaped body. The eyes of the Damsel are fairly pronounced but not as large and pronounced as the Dragonfly nymph.

Size

The damselfly nymph gets up to 25 mm long (one inch) when ready to hatch into an adult.

Importance to Fly Fishing

Fish seldom consumes the adult Damselfly. However, the Damselfly nymph ranks as the sixth most important food source during the daylight hours for trout. The samples show that about 5% of the daytime feeding is on Damsels and only 1% of the feed for fish caught in the evening hours or after dark.

This may suggest a very interesting hypothesis. During the peak of spring, fall and hatching migrations it is often difficult for the fly angler to catch trout. I suspect that during these times the fish are actively eating many Damsel and Dragonfly nymphs. However, with thousands of real nymphs to choose from, the fish will simply ignore anything but a perfect imitation and presentation. The imitation isn’t difficult but the presentation is a real challenge because the Damselfly nymph swims just like a fish. Any fish that already satisfied its initial hunger will likely become very selective and avoid a damsel that isn’t moving correctly.

Nymphs

The nymph of both the Dragon and Damselflies are by far the most important stage to the fly angler. The fish’s interest will peak twice during the season. The first period is right at ace out and the second will be around the period of early fall. When tying flies to imitate these aquatic creatures, remember to emphasize the bulbous eyes and large head of the Dragonfly and the well-defined head and caudal lamellae of the Damselfly nymphs. The colors are medium to dark olive green in the hatching season and a lighter green and smaller size during the fall migration.

I’ve seen a few different methods used to impart a swimming motion to the Damsel imitation. Wiggling the rod tip with a dry line and a very short leader, fluffy flies that undulate with very short and rapid pulls, ect. Having just made that rather revealing observation, I’ll be totally honest and tell you the way I’ve done it. My most successful method has been to simply ‘still fish’ the Damsel. I let it sit as if it were resting between swims with an occasional twitch to attract attention. I will always use a floating line in combination with a shorter leader. Again, observation is the key to success. If you observe these Damsels crawling around the shoreline, it’s the best time to try your luck. Don’t wait until the hatch is in full swing, thus avoiding the unwanted competition.

Maine’s Overlap Emergence Chart

Black=Mayflies Blue=Caddisflies Green=Stoneflies Red=Dragonflies + Damselflies


March	1	1	2
	2	1	2
	3	1	2
	4	2	1	2

April	1	1	2	1	2
	2	1	2	1	2	1	2
	3	1	2	3	1	2	1	2
	4	1	2	3	1	2	2

May	1	1	2	3	4	5	6	1	2	3	4	5	2	3	4
	2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	1	2	3	4	5	2	3	4	1	2
	3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	1	2	3	4	5	2	3	4	1	2
	4	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	1	2	3	4	5	2	3	4	1	2

June	1	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	3	4	5	2	3	4	5	1	2
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	1	3	4	5	2	3	4	5	1	2
	3	3	4	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	1	3	4	5	2	3	4	5	1	2
	4	3	4	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	4	5	4	5	1	2

July	1	3	4	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	4	5	4	5	1	2
	2	3	4	9	10	11	15	16	17	18	19	4	5	4	5	1	2
	3	3	4	15	16	17	18	19	4	5	4	5	1	2
	4	3	4	15	16	18	19	4	5	5	1	2

August	1	3	4	18	19	4	5	5	1	2
	2	3	4	18	19	4	5	5	1	2
	3	3	4	18	19	4	5	1	2
	4	3	4	19	4	5	1	2

September	1	3	4	19	4	5	1	2
	2	3	4	5	1	2
	3	3	4	5
	4	3	4

October	1	3	4
	2
	3
	4