Schwiebert also pointed out that skaters work best when the trout are accustomed to seeing an occasional big insect fluttering across the current. Skaters gained popularity on limestone streams as good imitations of the eastern green drake. In The Dry Fly: New Angles, Gary LaFontaine also notes the effectiveness of skating spiders when adult craneflies skitter and dance on soft-flowing currents. He states that in late summer, on streams like Montana's Beaverhead or upper Clark's Fork, the water over the flats at dawn appeared to have an "orange haze" from the flitting cranefly adults. In this case, he used the brown and orange hackle skater to mimic the adult craneflies.

Today Skating Spiders are not commonly used on spring-creek waters. The large, stiff hackle used in tying them is hard to find. I'm not aware of any commercial fly-tying businesses that offer them, and it is almost impossible to find a good Skating Spider in any fly shop. I tie them on a size 14 hook with hackle suited to a size 6 or larger if I can find it. If you enjoy trying something different, and you enjoy tying your own flies, give Skating Spiders a try.

Terrestrials

Trout also can become very selective when there aren't many naturals on the water. I've noticed this more on warm summer days when the mayfly duns fly almost immediately from the surface as they escape the nymphal shuck. There are usually many more mayflies emerging than you think because they don't stay on the surface long.

In this situation trout are much more likely to focus on emergers and cripples in the surface film. Even though there are several excellent patterns to imitate this stage of the hatch, it's difficult to take trout under these conditions because the naturals wiggle and squirm as they try to escape the nymphal shuck. I can tie imitations that look right, but they don't wiggle and squirm enough to look like the naturals. This can really be a frustrating experience because sometimes you can see the trout sliding back and forth just under the surface feeding steadily but never taking a dun. Even the best anglers only take an occasional trout when they get this selective.

When trout are selective and there are a lot of mayflies or other aquatic insects on the water, I like to switch to a terrestrial. Even though trout see heavy concentrations of the same species of mayfly at specific periods, there are beetles, ants, crickets, and other terrestrial insects drifting in the currents throughout the day for months on end. By midsummer, the trout have become conditioned to seeing these terrestrial insects. Trout look for positives, not negatives. They see so many terrestrial insects throughout the season that they instinctively respond when they see one. These types of food forms are soon imprinted on their tiny brains, sort of like a secondary selectivity which will likely cause a positive response no matter what else is on the water. Trout really seem to show a taste preference for them.

You'll do better if you use a terrestrial pattern that resembles the insects most common to the waters you're fishing. Even though you don't usually see a lot of ants or beetles on the water, if you take a few minutes and seine the surface film, you will usually pick up a few terrestrial insects. Ken Miyata gained well-deserved praise for an article called "Anting the Hatch," in which he pointed out that trout have a distinct preference for ants. Ken didn't waste time trying to match the hatch when the trout started to get selective on mayflies or other aquatic insects. Instead, he tied on a size 16 flying ant pattern, totally ignoring what the trout were actually feeding on, and he caught fish. I fished with Ken often. He was a fine angler with the skills to take matching the hatch with dry flies to its highest level. However, there were times when he wanted to set his own fishing standards instead of trying to duplicate the presentation of a tiny insect to a feeding trout.

I've said before that if I only had one dry fly that I could take anywhere in the world, it would be a black beetle. It is surprising how easy it is to see a black beetle or ant on the surface, but I also tie some of my small terrestrials with a tiny bright yarn indicator on the top of the fly. It doesn't seem to bother the trout, and it makes seeing the fly a lot easier.

It is important to remember that a trout is a primitive creature, possessing little more intelligence than the insects he feeds on, but his senses are superb. He survives on instinct. His vision is so keen and his feeding so exact that we can never fully achieve the perfect deception. No matter how precise my imitation, I cannot be assured a trout actually took it for what I intended it to be. During the years I traveled with Gary LaFontaine, we had fun arguing. Like many anglers, he wanted to have an answer for everything. He tied many crude patterns and had reasons for why trout took each of them. He compiled all his research and patterns in Trout Flies: Proven Patterns. I enjoyed teasing him about why each of his crazy patterns worked. His scientific approach to everything is what made fishing fun for him.

It is human nature to be presented with an intricate problem and find a solution, and unraveling the complexities of a hatch gives fly fishers much satisfaction. There is a lot to learn, and it would take more than a lifetime to learn it. It isn't new. Fly fishers have been trying to solve the mysteries for centuries. But for me, sometimes I don't want to think about why trout do anything. I have enough to worry about just keeping my tackle organized and remembering where I left my car keys. It is enough just to watch a trout rise to take my fly.

Whenever possible, I like to use patterns that imitate as closely as possible the food the trout are feeding on. Matching the hatch is my kind of game, and I like to play it whenever I can. There are times, however, when it just isn't practical to match the hatch. Trout will thumb their noses at even the most experienced angler. Sometimes the best way to deal with such a simple creature is to simplify your tactics. That's when you need to convince the trout to play your game.