The full stream levels we’ve had this year have been very good for cress bug and shrimp populations. In some of the springs I watch closely, the streams in the Edinburg area are carrying more water than usual and are spread out much wider than they normally are. This encourages a profuse growth of aquatic weeds, thus providing an abundance of homes for the cress bugs and shrimp.
These springs are easy to locate by the bright green weed-growth around them on the banks and in the streams where they flow in. The primary habitat for the cress bugs and shrimp are actually in these thick grass beds, however, frequently large numbers of them can be found in the stream several hundred feet downstream of the springs.
I have seen an individual trout hold on a specific feeding station and feed there all day. These trout can be located either by their tailing motion as they turn nose down to root out the cress bugs or by the discolored water which flows downstream from their rooting. I really enjoy fishing one-on-one for these feeding trout. By either crawling up the stream bank or wading slowly up the stream, I cast a Shenk’s Cress Bug, size 16, two feet upstream of the feeding trout. I have my best results watching the trout for his strike than relying on indicators. A slight turn of the trout’s body or “whitening” of the fly as he opens his mouth to take it is my signal to set the hook. Some of the finest fishing of this type, I find in the East on the Letort, Big Spring Creek and at Fisherman’s Paradise. In the west, Armstrong’s and Nelson’s are excellent.
My favorite flies are Ed Shenk’s Cress Bug size 14 and 16, Shenandoah Sowbug size 14 and 16, and Murray’s Shrimp size 14 and 16.