Fly-Fishing In Spring

Written By: Matt Canter-Brookings Fly Shop | Issue: April 2025

You can feel it, hear it, and smell it.

Spring is in the air, and for any outdoor enthusiast that is some exciting stuff! For most fly anglers, spring is a magical time of year that just cannot be matched.

Here in Western North Carolina, we are very fortunate to be able to fly fish all year long. Winters can be a little chilly, and summer can get a little hot (on the fish), but spring and fall are just right. Fall would be the runner-up on my favorite times to fish here at home, but in my opinion, the best time to fly fish here is springtime (March through mid-June).

As the days begin to get longer and warmer, a metamorphosis happens in both the waters and the woods. About the time that leaves begin to bud, and birds begin to lay on their nests above the water, there are also things happening below the surface that are more important to the fly angler.

Aquatic insects live most of their lifespan below water, but when it comes time for them to reproduce, they need to do that above water. This is what’s referred to as a “hatch.”

These bugs transform themselves from things that crawl and swim around on the riverbed into flying insects. When this happens, they leave the protection of the rocks that they live in, and swim freely in the water column up to the surface. The dinner bell rings, and the feast of all feasts happens for the trout!

It’s a spectacle to behold. Trout can be seen feeding voraciously below as well as on the surface of the water.

A sight like this can get an angler so excited it’s hard to tie a fly on to the tippet. It looks as if you could throw any fly in the box on the water and a trout would gobble it up. That’s not the case though – this is a chess match between the angler and the fish. In order to get the trout interested in eating the angler’s fly, it must look and act like the bugs they are actively feeding on.

Size, shape, and color are all things to consider when picking the right fly from your selection. Once you have that dialed in, then you must make the fly act like the other bugs on the water.

Are they floating lifelessly like a mayfly will, or are they skittering like a caddis? These interactions with mother nature are not uncommon on the trout streams around here in spring, which makes it my personal favorite time to fly fish.

You should get out and experience it!