Pale Morning Dun

Materials

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Hook TMC 100 #16-18
Thread Veevus 8/0 Light Cahill
Body Pale Morning Dun Superfine Dubbing
Tail Light Ginger Spade Hackle
Wing Natural Comparadun Deer Hair
   
Actual Pale Morning Dun
Actual Pale Morning Dun

Pale Morning Dun

The Pale Morning Dun mayfly is a major hatch for our Sierran streams and rivers. They are found heavily within Spring Creeks and tailwaters, preferring stabilized flows and streambeds with rooted vegetation. Often the nymphs tend to be within the riffles and runs, crawling on the bottom.

Life Cycle

The Pale Morning Dun begins its life cycle as a crawling type of nymph that crawls towards the streambanks before they swim clumsily to the surface when ready to “hatch”. The nymph actually splits just below the surface and the dun emerges completing it’s travel to the surface a few inches further. At the surface it takes some time, 7-10 minutes, for the wings to dry so that the dun can proceed out of the water for the nearest streamside vegetation. PMD’s are generally in the size 16-18. The duns molt into spinners for mating with the females depositing eggs usually in the late afternoon. Rarely is the spinner fall a focus for the trout as they tend to concentrate on the emerging dun during the hatch as large numbers are usually present on the water surface.

Hatches

Hatches usually begin in late May or early June and continue to the end of July or early August. The water temperature should be between 58-62 degrees F for a good hatch to take place. The hatch usually starts in late morning around 11:00am. If it is a bright, warm day the hatch might go on for only an hour or more. On cloudy days, the hatch might continue for 3-4 hours and be sporadic. The life cycle covers a full year, the nymph phase being close to 12 months while the dun/spinner phase is only 24 hours. Duns and Spinners will have 3 distinct tails, The females will be pale yellow on the back and a mix of pale yellow and pale olive on the underside. The males tend to have more of an amber coloration. Wings will also be pale yellow.

Patterns to consider

Within the dry fly category, we have Pale Morning Duns with the emergent forms such as the Sparkle Dun, Quilled Parachute Dun, Brooksprout, RS2, Quigley Cripple, Floating Nymph, and Hackle Stacker. The emergent forms are very important as the fish key upon this stage.

Life Cycle:

Other Patterns

Paraquill PMD
Paraquill PMD

Paraquill PMD

Hook Tiemco 100 #16-18
Thread Uni-Thread Light Cahill 8/0
Body Ginger Dyed Quill
Thorax PMD Superfine
Tail Light Ginger Tailing fibers
Wingpost White Turkey Flat
Hackle Ginger Saddle Hackle
Brooksprout PMD
Brooksprout PMD

Brooksprout PMD

Hook Daiichi 1120 #16-20
Thread Uni-Thread Yellow 8/0
Body Brown Ostrich Herl
Thorax PMD Superfine
Shuck Dark Olive ZLon
Wingpost 1/16 White Parachute Post
Hackle Light Blue Dun Hackle
RS2 PMD
RS2 PMD

RS2, PMD

Hook TMC 101 #16-20
Thread Danville Cream 6/0
Body Pale Yellow Superfine
Thorax Pale Yellow Superfine
Tail Med Dun Microfibbets
Wing Dun Saddle Hackle, trimmed
Quigley Cripple, PMD
Quigley Cripple, PMD

Quigley Cripple, PMD

Hook Tiemco 100 #16-18
Thread Uni-Thread Gray 8/0
Body Natural Pheasant Tail Fibers
Thorax PMD Superfine
Tail Natural Pheasant Tail Fibers
Ribbing Small Gold Wire
Wing Natural Comparadun Deer Hair
Hackle Medium Dun Hackle
Floating Nymph PMD
Floating Nymph PMD

Floating Nymph, PMD

Hook Tiemco 100 #16-18
Thread Veevus 10/0 Light Cahill
Body Pale Morning Dun Superfine
Thorax Pale Morning Dun Superfine
Ribbing Small Copper Wire
Tail Light Dun Spade Hackle Fibers
Legs Light Dun Spade Hackle Fibers
Wing Ball of Blue Dun Superfine Dubbing
Hackle Light Dun Hackle
Hackle Stacker PMD
Hackle Stacker PMD

Hackle Stacker, PMD

Hook Tiemco 100 #16-20
Thread Uni-Thread Light Cahill 8/0
Body Pale Yellow Superfine
Thorax PMD Superfine
Tail Light Dun Microfibbetts
Hackle Ginger Hackle
Post Danville Monofilament