Secrets of the Best Early Season Mayfly Hatch, with Blake Katchur

The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

James Hathaway

Sports, Wilderness, Education, How To

4.8 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Join me as we explore the fascinating world of early season olive hatches with expert fly fisherman Blake Katchur [35:42] of Anglers All in Denver. No matter where you fish, you'll find this hatch any time from early March to early June. Discover effective tactics, fly patterns, and timing tips to enhance your fishing success during this prolific hatch.

In the Fly Box this week, we have these questions and more:
Can I use my 7-weight fiberglass rod for bonefish in Belize?
Why can I catch brook trout in smaller streams during the winter but not in a bigger river?
If I leave off the trailing hook in articulated flies, how do I compensate for the lack of weight? Will it affect the swimming action of my flies?
For Alaska silver salmon and big rainbows, should I get a 9-foot or 10-foot 8-weight Helios rod? And should I pick Helios D or F?
Do the scents from resins and glues put off the fish? Is there anything that can cover up these scents?
Are wings on dry flies absolutely necessary?
Where did we get the "X" system we use for leader and tippet diameters?
What do you have on your fly-tying bench that you can't do without?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, and welcome to the Orvis Fly Fishing podcast.
0:15.8	This is your host, Tom Rosenbauer.
0:17.1	And my guest this week is Blake Katcher from Anglers All Fly Shop, actually two fly shops
0:24.7	now, in Denver, Colorado. And Blake is going to be talking about one of the most exciting
0:33.5	hatches of the year. And it's also in many places the first decent Mayfly hatch
0:39.6	of the year. Sometimes they start even in late February, early March, and by April and early
0:47.5	May, they're in full swing in most trout streams throughout North America. And these are mayflies that you may encounter almost anywhere in the world in the springtime
0:58.6	or on a rainy day, almost any time of year.
1:02.4	So it's an important hatch.
1:04.8	To some people, it's their favorite hatch because it brings up a lot of fish,
1:09.8	brings up good fish, and it's a lot of fun to catch
1:13.3	a big trout on a little tiny dry fly. So anyway, Blake's going to share some secrets of
1:20.4	fishing the bluing olive or BWO hatches with us today. Before we get started in the flybox, I wanted to tell you about some places you might
1:31.7	want to go on your own fishing trips in the coming year.
1:36.0	First one is an outfitter, and it's River Through Atlanta Guide Service.
1:41.3	This is a well-established guide service in Atlanta, Georgia. And they've been
1:48.5	guiding the Chattahoochee River since 1994. And if you've never been to Atlanta, it's pretty
1:53.9	amazing because the Chattahoochee River runs literally right through the middle of Atlanta.
2:00.7	And although there are some stocked rainbow trout, runs literally right through the middle of Atlanta.
2:07.2	And although there are some stocked rainbow trout in the Chattahoochee, which are relatively easy to catch, there is also an incredible population of wild brown trout.
2:13.5	That's right.
2:14.1	Stream bread, healthy, incredibly hard fighting, sometimes snooty, and sometimes very large brown trout,
	...

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