Read the Water. Match the Hatch.

Western March Brown

The first big mayfly of spring. Mottled tan-brown duns bring the season’s first real dry-fly fishing on late-winter afternoons — a Pacific Northwest and valley-river classic.

Clinger nymphs migrate to slower edges before emergence. Fish a hare’s ear along current margins.

Duns emerge mid-column and ride long — but a swung soft-hackle through the riffle takes the fish you cannot see.

A sparse hatch by summer standards, but the first duns of the year get eaten with enthusiasm.