All About The Skwala
When the weather finally takes a turn for the better and our Bozeman area rivers start showing signs of spring the local fly fishing can provide anglers with a phenomenal experience. From excellent nymphing to fun streamer fishing and our favorite, great dry fly opportunities! The skwala may not be one of our most prolific hatches but fishing large dry flies in cold weather can be tough to beat.
About The Skwala
Skwala’s are in the stonefly family and are one of the first hatches in the spring. When these bugs start moving it usually means the first opportunity to toss around some big dry flies. The Skwala Genus is a smaller dark-bodied stonefly that hatches on our western Montana freestone rivers in early Spring. Like other stoneflies, the skwala crawls onto the banks and brushy areas to hatch. Stoneflies all undergo incomplete metamorphosis so they have 3 life stages, egg, to nymph, to adult.
Early spring is a great time to nymph small olive Rubberlegs or other nymph patterns when these bugs start thinking about hatching. Once an angler sees nymphs crawling on rocks, fresh empty shucks on the banks or even trout rising, it is time to switch to your favorite skwala dry fly patterns.
Top 3 Skwala Dry Fly Patterns
1. Skwala Morning Wood Special 2. Purple Crystal Stimulator 3. Olive Amy’s Ant
Get all of these and many more fly patterns to imitate skwala’s at our Bozeman fly shop!
