SE Hatch Calendar · Hand-picked

What’s likely hatching around here

A Southern Appalachians seasonal guess from our regional notes. Beat-specific lists still need a check against the NCWRC hatch PDF and VA DWR waterbody pages. These are not clock times.

Timing offsets

Trust the thermometer

Tailwaters can run ~3–4 weeks ahead in spring. Waters >3500 ft can run ~2–4 weeks behind. Trust the thermometer, not the calendar alone.

VA spring creek (Mossy): BWO, Trico, Sulphur, then terrestrials — different rhythm than freestone Yellow Sally.

Thermal ethics

Soft hold in the upper 60s

VA DWR: comfortable ≤68 °F; stress in the mid–upper 60s; brook trout prefer under 65 °F.

No statewide hoot-owl found in our sources. Practitioners and TU flag stress above 68 °F; mortality risk climbs in the 70s.

Soft ethics hold in the upper 60s. Pull out the thermometer when it’s hot. Steer summer toward tailwater, spring creek, or high elevation. Never invent a closure.

Jan–Mar

  • Midges
  • BWO
  • Early Black Stones
  • Blue Quill
  • Quill Gordon (late Mar)

Apr

  • Midges
  • Hendrickson
  • March Brown
  • Quill Gordon
  • Black/Mottled Caddis
  • Giant Stones

May

  • Caddis (Grannom → Hydropsyche)
  • Sulphurs (evening)
  • Light Cahill
  • BWO
  • Giant Stones

Jun

  • Sulphurs
  • Light Cahill
  • Yellow Sally
  • Green Sedge
  • First terrestrials

Jul–AugEthics critical

  • Terrestrials
  • Yellow Sally / Golden Stones
  • Tricos (morning on flats)
  • Midges on tailwaters

Sep

  • Terrestrials taper
  • Light Cahill (dusk)
  • Midges return

Oct–Dec

  • Midges
  • BWO
  • Early Black Stones
  • October Caddis

Temp watch bands

Useful heuristics — not laws

These lean Rockies in the research notes — treat as watch-fors, not constants. Feeding core roughly 50–65 °F. Stress mid–upper 60s. Agency-style hard caution around 68–70 °F.

  • Midges — ≳40 °F
  • BWO — ~46–56 °F
  • Caddis — ~55–56 °F
  • PMD-class / Sulphurs — ~60 °F

Time of day

Time-of-day tips — never clock guarantees

  • Tricos — Morning on flats
  • Sulphurs / PMD-class — Afternoon–evening
  • BWO — Often better on overcast / drizzle
  • Light Cahill — Dusk (Sep note in SE calendar)
  • Feeding — Crepuscular peaks common; summer heat compresses to cool mornings/evenings; winter often midday warming

Stage language

How to read a hatch

  • Mayflies: nymph → emerger/dun (subimago) → spinner (imago). No pupa.
  • Caddis: larva → pupa (often the eating stage in the film) → adult.
  • Stoneflies: nymph (year-round) → adult near banks (usually crawl-out; no midstream emerger).
  • Midges: larva → pupa (film) → adult.
  • Terrestrials: Bank-food layer, not a hatch-stage prediction.

From our regional starter notes and insect research brief. Still needs a founder check against the NCWRC hatch chart PDF and VA DWR waterbody pages.