Book Review: Pocketguide to Upper Midwest Hatches

by Glen Blackwood, Great Lakes Fly Fishing Co.

In the pursuit of trout through fly fishing, there is a parallelism between success and observation. Fly fishing is nothing more than a mindspinning algebraic equation that a variety of angling methods can solve. Only all the variables are found in the natural world. These variables can be the time of the year, water temperatures and flows, angling pressure, and the trout themselves, to name a few, as well as, importantly, the vastness of fly selection.

Fly selection has been bantered about for centuries. From Frederic M. Halford writing about chalk stream dry fly fishing in England to Theodore Gordon’s adaptations dressed for the rivers of the Catskill region of New York, dry fly anglers have been searching for the perfect pattern. G. E. M. Skues led the charge regarding anglers accepting that drifting immature insects (nymphs) was also acceptable to the sport. With Frank Sawyer’s creation of the pheasant tail nymph, subsurface opportunities prospered.

Other anglers, fly dressers, and authors continued to create and tout the next best trout fly, mostly based on local knowledge and on-stream observation. Science was, by in large, left out of the equation until Ernest Schwiebert wrote Matching the Hatch in 1955. The Michigan-based team of Dr. Carl Richards and Doug Swisher added to the scientific approach with the release of Selective Trout in 1971. Selective Trout informed anglers of trout stream insect life cycles and patterns and categorized them into the most important bugs in geographic regions. They coined these bugs “The Super Hatches.” With Selective Trout’s release, a new baseline was established, with anglers now understanding the life cycles of mayflies from egg to nymph, to emerger, to dun, and to the final stage of spinners. This understanding allowed for better fly selection on the water.

As understanding grew based on Swisher and Richards’s research, the number of angling books pertaining to insects proliferated. The discussions of the insects that trout eat and why almost became sensory overload, with more theories and patterns paving the way. Then in December 2011, midwestern fishers were gifted an early Christmas present, a small instature but hefty in information book written by Ann R. Miller. Titled Hatch Guide for Upper Midwest Streams, her book became the gold standard for insect identification on Midwest trout streams. Her newest book, released in February 2023, Pocketguide to Upper Midwest Hatches, raises the bar again.

To the Michigan fly fishing cognoscenti, Ann Miller needs no introduction. Not only her books but her columns in Michigan Trout speak for themselves. As does her countless hours of volunteer time spent with the Fly Girl’s organization and Federation of Fly Fishers International. Her professional training is in aquatic biology, the foundation of her knowledge, but her passion is found on the banks of coldwater rivers and streams. Her new volume is more complete than the original and includes an entirely new section titled “Other Aquatic Insects, Terrestrial Insects and Crustaceans.” Beyond the obvious opportunities of ants, grasshoppers, and other land-born insects, the discussions of hellgrammites, crane flies, dragonflies, midges, and scuds benefit the reader. While these trout foods may not seem as prominent as a major mayfly or caddis emergence, they should not be overlooked at the right place and at the right time. The book’s totality profits from this addition.

The book’s layout benefits from the four color pictures of a species on the left page and the representative fly patterns on the right. Following the species lifecycle from immature nymph or larva to sexually mature adult, these images allow the reader to visualize an actual insect and corresponding fly patterns. While outstanding macro photography is apparent on each page, the pages also include text deemed every bit as valuable to this reviewer. Please do not use this edition as a picture book alone, as you will miss the essential biological and angling insight that the author shares.

While on the topic of text, although the type size is smaller than one might commonly read, I found the font crisp and clean on the book’s quality stock. I also appreciated the book’s color-coded pages by the insects’ orders, making specific species searching a breeze, as did I appreciate the glossary and select bibliography found within the book’s boards. These sections are short but very impactful to the book’s overall value, as is the more extensive section pertaining to the included fly patterns. The accurate fly recipes, along with tyer credits, demonstrate the author’s collaborative nature.

These days there is a new version or update of something weekly, whether a mobile phone or other electronic devices. This book isn’t an update out of obsolescence, although insect names have been changed taxonomically, but an update to raise the standard. While I still steadfastly believe in the old-timer’s observations that the best Hex nights are those when both bullfrogs and fireflies are active, and Sulphers begin hatching on Mother’s Day, I’ll keep a copy of this title in both my vest and at my desk as someday I pray to find fish feeding on a bug that I have never experienced, and I will thank Ann for her natural observations that kept me in the game.

Pocketguide to Upper Midwest Hatches

Author: Ann R. Miller

Hardbound

Retail Price $29.95

Publisher: Stackpole