Rick Hafele, one of the biggest entomologist in the western US, was on the podcast to talk all things entomology and fly fishing. Rick provides some great tips on fishing dries, nymphs and wet flies.
He breaks down the basics of entomology, how the bugs life changes and how this will make you a more consistent fisherman. He shares the top 3 things you need to think about when you first get to a stream to increase your success.
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Show Notes with Rick Hafele
05:02 – Rick met Dave Hughes at the Free U at OSU and through the Aquatic Entomology Class which lead to The Complete Book of Western Hatches.
06:15 – Norm Anderson was Rick’s professor and mentor at OSU and a real naturalist in the field.
08:30 – The Society of Freshwater Scientist is mostly composed of aquatic entomologist.
15:25 – The most critical piece is understanding the size of the adults.
16:30 – The show Ask About Fly Fishing where Rick noted fishing size 16 nymphs and smaller.
19:30 – Kelly Galloup talking about how he doesn’t fish beads on the high sticking episode of Ask About Fly Fishing.
23:30 – Rick Hafele is the BugWan as noted and the alter ego can be seen on his videos.
25:25 – Vimeo is where all of Rick’s video have found a home.
27:45 – The bug net, vials and other bug sampling tools are at Rick’s website.
31:35 – Rick published Nymph Fishing Rivers and Streams, Western Hatches, Tactics for Trout, and Seasons for Trout.
40:15 – The Green Rock Worm and the baetis nymph pattern are Rick’s goto patterns.
43:35 – Tim Cammisa is a big east coast friend who has a big youtube channel. Here is the podcast interview.
47:05 – Davy Wotton was on the fly fishing podcast and covered wet fly fishing in depth.
52:30 – Take a rusty spinner in a range of sizes to catch trout on a spinner fall.
56:35 – The Bridge City Blues Band and Garry Meziere and no Tomorrow are two of the bands that Rick still plays live shows with.
I talked to another good friend of mine, Gene Shropshire in episode 165 who is the guy who taught me the guitar. He also taught me a lot about some of the dry fly hatches on the Deschutes.
57:45 – Rick notes Skip Morris who was on the podcast in episode 36.
1:02:45 – This link shows all of the upcoming speaking events.
You can find Rick at RickHafele.com or on instagram where he shares lots of cool bug pics.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode
- The Complete Book of Western Hatches is a classic book for the west and somewhat of aquatic insect bible for some.
- A bug net like this or a large aquarium net and vials, a white dish and tweezers are all helpful for sampling bugs instream.
Conclusion with Rick Hafele
I wanted to give Rick a big thank you for coming on the show and sharing his knowledge of entomology and fly fishing. We covered a lot of great stuff including his blues bands and the infamous BugWan character on his videos.
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[Goto https://wetflyswing.com/show/ to see all of the guests and show notes]