WNY Fly Fishing - Early Black Stone Flies

Stoneflies are food for trout, steelhead; a properly fished stonefly can be an effective for these fish year-round. Small black stoneflies are one of the first aquatic insects to hatch in significant densities making them an ideal fly choice for those fishing trout/steelhead in late winter and early spring. 
Stoneflies of the smaller families tend to hatch in early spring, while the larger species hatch later in the year. Stonefly nymphs are equipped with gills to extract oxygen from water and remain underwater until the time they mature into adults, when the nymphs crawl out of the water onto shoreline objects they cling to them using the double claws on their feet. Just as most adult stoneflies are awkward fliers, stonefly nymphs are generally poor swimmers. While most stoneflies hatch in the spring, some of the larger species have 2- or even 3-year life cycles, allowing you to fish stonefly nymphs almost year-round with success. In most cases, stonefly nymphs should be fished close to the bottom, with 4 to 6 inches off the bottom, ideally on the edge of where the current changes. When fishing a stonefly nymph, cast upstream, let the fly sink, and dead drift it along the bottom allowing the current to push it around.