Water Boatmen
If you enjoy streamer fishing and aggressive takes, then this style of fishing will be right up your alley. These bugs are most prevalent in the early spring and in the fall when they migrate to different watersheds looking to mate.
Keys to fishing Boatmen
Heavy tippet - anything less than 3x and you will likely break fish off on the strike. Trout eat these bugs with mean intention in an attempt to avoid being bitten back.
Water to Target - it is key to focus on riffles and seams that are next to slow back eddies. The Boatman will congregate in this slow water and often be swept away by the current. This is why swinging your fly into these spots and stripping it up the seam edges can be deadly.
The Rig
It is very common to fish a boatman as a second fly. This can be under a hopper or behind a small streamer like a Clouser Minnow or a Slump Buster.
Recommended flies
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To best mimic these bugs you should focus on flies between size 12 and 16.