A collection
Mayflies & Hatches
The small, fragile insects that drive a continent of fly fishing. Baetis, Blue-Winged Olive, and the hatches that turn cold gray afternoons into the best fishing of the year.
Mayflies are the foundation of American fly fishing. They are also one of the most ancient living orders of insects — Ephemeroptera predates dinosaurs — and their presence in a stream is itself a measurement: they need cold, clean, well-oxygenated water and disappear quickly when any of those conditions fail. The hatch — when nymphs swim to the surface, break the film, and emerge as winged adults — is the moment that converts an indifferent trout into a feeding one. This collection illustrates the species at the center of the American hatch calendar, from the tiny Baetis of late-season tailwaters to the iconic Blue-Winged Olive duns drifting downstream on a gray spring afternoon.