tactics

Follow the Swallow

By David Golobay

What's happening ABOVE the water can give clues to what's happening IN the water.

ly fishers learn to take clues from nature. We seine rivers and lakes for insects, cast with the wind to acquire the perfect drift, and analyze river currents to determine where fish reside. Nature gives us many clues as what to expect while we're on the water. One clue that many anglers miss: swallows.

Just like the swallows that return yearly to the mission at San Juan Capistrano, so swallows appear on our local rivers and lakes. These small birds provide useful information as to where and how trout might be feeding. You can think of them as a road map to good fishing.

Clues to Feeding Behavior

Swallows are insectivores that generally live in colonies. They depend on hatching insects for their livelihood; when cold weather strikes, insects decrease, and so does the swallow population.

Because swallows rely on insects for their food, it stands to reason that they can help fly anglers. As a rule of thumb, if you spot several swallows zipping around the water, you will find insects emerging or in flight depositing (or getting ready to deposit) their eggs. And where insects are emerging and laying eggs, rising trout are often found.

Swallows show us not only where the fish are likely to be rising, but also what types of flies to fish, and at what depth. Sometimes swallows will take an insect directly from or just below the water's surface. When this occurs, a swallow's wing will slap the water as it darts down and nabs the insect.

If you see this, carefully watch the behavior of the trout in the same area. If only the back of a trout is seen, then the swallows--and the trout--are probably taking emerging insects. However, if trout are sipping flies from the surface and you see active rises where mouths are breaking the surface, then the swallows are feeding on the adult insects. Dry flies and drowned patterns will be effective in these circumstances.

Mayflies, Midges, or Caddis?

Once we determine when and where the trout and swallows are consuming their mutual prey, we are generally able to understand what type of insects they are feeding on. The basic breakdown is this:

1. If the swallows are sweeping in, under, and beside trees, it is a good assumption that the trout and birds are feeding on caddisflies. Focus your efforts beneath the trees and use adult caddis imitations and drowned caddis patterns.
2. If the swallows are congregating in backeddies, look for the trout to be rising in the foam lines. Watch closely the behavior of the trout. If you see their mouths breaking the surface, a mayfly dry fly or spinner imitation will likely produce fish. Midges can also be found in this water type, so if there are no insects visible to the human eye, yet there are trout rising and swallows swooping, use midge emergers and dries.

Part of the Puzzle

Using swallows to find the hatches is an effective tactic. However it requires fly anglers to understand the type of water they are fishing and what sorts of insects inhabit that water. Swallows are a small piece of the puzzle, and the more educated fly fishers become to the environment that they fish, the more productive they will be.

A "regular" on the Westfly Bulletin Board, David Golobay lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and son (a recent emergence). David is the author of three other articles on Westfly. He can often be found fishing the Deschutes and Crooked rivers.

Uploaded 07/21/2006.

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