Terrestrial Season in the Smokies by Tyler Legg

I don't know about you, but I like the words "terrestrial season." We are getting close to the dog days of summer. With those hot, muggy, days, fast approaching, comes plenty of land bugs. It's a change of pace from the mayflies, caddis, and stoneflies so plentiful in the Spring. Don't get me wrong, all three are equally great, but terrestrials are the cream of the crop (or cream of the stream in this case) come summertime. Terrestrials are considered the zenith of the year on eastern hatch charts. In terms of mayflies, Blue Wing Olives are the primary food source during the winter months. Quill Gordons and Blue Quills take over in March, while the warmer temperatures of April trigger the Hendricksons, Red Quills, and March Browns to start making a run to the surface. Light Cahills and Yellow Stones begin to make their appearance in the latter part of the month. Light Cahills, March Browns, and Yellow Stones continue to hatch, along with a plethora of other aquatic insects. The terrestrials start to become increasingly active in May and June, before the rollercoaster starts to head back down when the first frost hits (usually around October) leaving trout exclusively looking for Blue Wing Olives once again.

Terrestrials have enticed fish to the surface across every corner of the globe. In the midst of summer, a big, juicy, grasshopper floating downstream seems to be irresistible to a hungry fish. Grasshoppers are not the only terrestrial prone to being swept into a stream. Ants, beetles, crickets, inchworms, cicadas, bees, wasps, leafhoppers, katydids, and caterpillars, just to name a few, are common terrestrial insects found in the Smokies. Of course, some of them show up at different times during the summer. Cicadas being one of the last to be seen, as they usually start to emerge in July and August. Still, hoppers, ants, beetles, and inchworms are going to be the most important on a Smokies trout stream. Make sure you have a handful of patterns that imitate each terrestrial.   

Trout will often wait in shallow spots adjacent to the bank, patiently waiting to hear a PLOP from a grasshopper falling into the water. That "plop" sound hoppers make upon hitting the water's surface, seems to send the fish looking for the source of the sound. In some cases, it triggers an aggressive response, in which the fish comes racing up to the insect to pluck it from the surface. Floating hoppers do not stay afloat forever though. Just when the grasshopper thinks it's had enough torture, rapids, eddies, and rough water eventually drag them under. Rivers are horror movies for unsuspecting grasshoppers! Adding weight to sink a hopper pattern is never a bad idea. Sometimes wary fish seem to feel more comfortable taking a sunken hopper, opposed to a hopper on the surface.
Some excellent hopper patterns for the Smokies...

Burkholder's Club Sandwich
Al's Hopper
Dave's Hopper
Letort Hopper
Parachute Hopper
Whitlock's Whit's Hopper