There's No Free Pass

Last week I talked about the emergence of winter stoneflies and how they avoid most predators by emerging early in the season. But their strategy is not a free pass - there were a few predators lurking about this weekend.

 

A few species of spiders on the prowl.

 

A beetle larva (Coleoptera) in the family Hydrophilidae - with
mandibles like that, you know they mean business.

 

Spring is in the...Water?

We have all heard that saying “spring is in the air”. And it certainly looks like spring is finally here.

There is no question that last week’s blizzard, and seasonally low temperatures through the month of March have set things back a few weeks. But the melt has commenced and signs of spring are everywhere. Longer days of course; but more importantly the increased angle of the sun provides more solar energy – it just feels warmer. We see the snow starting to disappear, puddles and slush abound, and the sounds of trickling water are everywhere. That rhythmic drip, drip, drip is simply music to our ears.

Above all else however is the smell. Ahh the smell – it smells like…change. That particular mix of earthy, musty, freshness that brings us out of our winter dormancy and makes us want to get out and do stuff. It tells us that summer is close at hand and it buoys our spirits in anticipation of things to come. These first days of spring are a primordial cue that changes the way we act and feel.

These same cues also drive behavior and “mood” in the aquatic realm. The life cycles of both trout and bugs are intimately tied to the circle of the seasons. Knowing when to feed, when to spawn, and when to hunker down are paramount to the success of any species. To accomplish this, nature has developed a system of intricate indicators to keep things on track; triggers and set-points that cue specific activities at specific times of the year.

For the trout and bugs, longer days and warmer temperatures form the basis of that spring has sprung change in behavior – but it’s more than just that. Like us there is a characteristic smell that solidifies the drive to shift gears. As the snow starts to melt, run-off percolating through the surrounding topography injects a characteristic chemical signature, a characteristic smell, into the water. Ahh the smell – one can only wonder what the trout and bugs are thinking as the water warms, the sediment stirs, and they also smell the coming of spring.

Early spring is when things start to happen. Everything shifts from winter, dormant mode, to get ready mode. Some bugs are already starting to hatch while others are simply on the move. Mayfly nymphs are moving from deeper runs and holes to shallower feeding areas that may be a few degrees warmer than the surrounding water – exposing them to feeding trout. Trout that spawn in the spring are gorging on the final influx of food while they wait for tributaries to swell to make their trek upstream to spawn. While fall spawners are fully focused on taking advantage of the smorgasbord that the spring freshets provide.

Spring is also in the water.

 

 

Tiny Baetis nymphs are usually the first to make their move to shallow water.

They will also be among the first bugs to emerge in the spring.

 

It Makes Me Wonder

With the recent cold snap and significant dump of snow I am wondering just why they do it.

What makes some species of stoneflies, animals that are cold blooded and rely on favorable environmental conditions to maintain their metabolic activity, forego the warmth of summer and emerge under conditions that are marginal at best?

Emerging in the late winter or early spring exposes winter stoneflies to some very harsh conditions. Low temperatures mean that they are limited in their ability to move around; sudden changes in the weather can have life or death consequences; and there are not many places to hide out on the snowpack. Overall the risks are very high. Yet they have somehow managed to survive and thrive for hundreds of thousands of years. Clearly there must be some evolutionary advantage to their strategy.

Winter stoneflies do have several tricks that they use to survive the harsh conditions often encountered at this time of year. Most species are either black or some shade of dark brown. This allows them to absorb the maximum amount of the suns energy – both direct sunlight from above, and reflected light off the snow from below. Even on overcast days there is still enough UV light getting through to warm their bodies several degrees above the air temperature. At night winter stoneflies will take refuge in the thin layer of warm air under the snowpack. And even if their bodies do get chilled a few degrees below zero, the high concentration of glucose compounds in their body fluids prevent ice crystals from forming.

But all of these adaptations will only go so far. A sudden drop in temperature, especially to levels that are uncharacteristically low for the time of year (as we just saw), often results in at least some mortality. In addition, their dark coloration makes them an easy target when moving about on the snow. Add to this the fact that males lack functional wings and the odds seem to be stacked against them.

Utacapnia trava - adult (wingless) male with teneral female

So why emerge in the winter?

Bugs that emerge in the summer must run the gauntlet of a myriad of predators – everything from hungry trout and other predatory aquatic bugs, to birds, bats, and…well…everything else that eats bugs. A common emergence strategy is predator swamping (emerging en-mass) in hopes that at least a few will survive to carry on the bloodline. Winter is a more subdued time of year; there are few predators on the prowl and the trout are often found sulking in their winter lies. This allows winter stonefly hatches to trickle off over several weeks with minimal fear of becoming dinner for something else. The prolonged hatch period is added insurance against severe weather events that may wipe out a portion of the generation.

I am guessing that the recent cold snap took its toll on any winter stoneflies that have already emerged. But rest assured, the hatch will resume as soon as things warm up again.

 

 

 

Part 4: Heat Treating the Blank

The wood fly rod project continued this past weekend with heat treating of the rod blank. Heat treating is a critical stage in rod build process; it hardens the wood and gives the blank an overall stiffer and faster action.

The first step is to put the rod blank back into the rod drying jig (see Cutting and Drying the Blank) – this will serve as a make-shift oven, and hold the blank straight as it is heated. As before, hose clamps are used to hold everything together, but unlike the initial drying process where the hose clamps were placed every 6”, this phase only requires a clamp every 12”.  The clamps should be just snugged down enough to hold things straight. Too much tension and you risk leaving depressions from the conduit compressing the heated and softened wood. Then the entire set-up needs to be placed in a position where at least a third or so of the drying jig can be heated at any one time without melting or igniting anything.

 

To heat the entire set-up I prefer to use an electric heat gun – the type typically used to strip paint. It is not as quick as a propane torch but the heat can be more accurately controlled and there is less chance of scorching the wood (something you definitely want to avoid). You will need to heat the metal conduit and enclosed rod blank to a core temperature of ~ 450°C, and keep it there for several minutes. Because the drying jig will cool slightly between passes of the heat gun, you will need a heat gun that can generate more than 450°C (on the high setting, mine goes to 540°C).

The set-up is heated one 12” section at a time (if you try to heat a longer section than this the jig will cool too much between passes and you will not attain a high enough core temperature). Pass the heat gun back and forth along the conduit, working around the circumference of the section, with the nozzle almost touching the tubing. The goal is to gradually bring the tubing and the wood to temperature without generating any hot spots (even with the heat gun it is still possible to scorch the blank). You will need to spend about 20 minutes on each 12” section at the butt end of the blank, 15 minutes per section in the middle, and 10 minutes per section at the tip. As things heat up you will smell a musty, woody smell and you may see steam coming off the blank– this is normal. If you detect a burning smell, things are getting a little too hot. Ideally you want to gradually work the entire length of the blank in one session (about 2-3 hours) starting at the butt end and working towards the tip.

 

Some minor scorching is acceptable but
you do want to avoid over doing it

There are two things going on during the heat treating process. Firstly, although the rod blank was dried for a full year, there is still some moisture remaining in the wood due to the average ambient humidity in the air; heating the rod blank drives out this residual moisture. Second, the intense heat breaks the chemical bonds between the polysaccharides and water molecules found between the wood fibers. As the water molecules are stripped from the intercellular polysaccharides (part of the “glue” that holds the wood fibers together), the wood becomes harder – resulting in a stiffer, stronger rod blank.

With the weather looking more winter-like this weekend, I will likely spend some time sanding the rod blank to the desired taper.

The Calm Before the Storm

With all of the spring-like weather we have been having lately I was getting anxious to get out and cast a few flies. Saturday was my first opportunity to do so and with the narrow weather window of opportunity, it did not dissapoint. The morning was a little iffy with thick fog and a little rain but by the time I reached my destination the cloud ceiling had risen along with the temperature.

The hike along the creek proved to be quite challenging - the snow up past my knees had me wishing I had snow shoes at times, but I knew they would just slow me down even more in the dense tangle of  willows. Regardless, slow and slinky was the way to go to avoid spooking the quarry (although crawling up to any fishy looking water proved to be an interesting proposition).

Winter stoneflies (Utacapnia trava) have started to hatch and many adults could be seen crawling on the snow. During inclement weather, and at night,  they will take refuge in the thin layer of relatively warmer air under the snowpack.

Utacapnia trava (adult teneral female)

The weather window slamed shut on the drive home and I was glad that I left the stream a little early to avoid the worst of it. Overall the day was most enjoyable - a good workout, lots of fresh air, and half a dozen nice brown trout.

Not a bad start to the 2013 season.