Fish Drawing - Rainbow Trout Drawing

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Gil Menzies

Mayflies vary in size and colour. Some are two or more inches long, while others are smaller than a fingernail. Mayflies exhibit incomplete metamorphosis. The nymph increases in size, and after about a year, it rises to the water's surface, sheds its exoskeleton and a winged insect hatches. In this stage the wings are dull and opaque and the may fly is knows as a dun. Soon the dun molts and becomes a spinner. It transforms from an opaque state to one of near transparency. The wings are clear and glossy showing veination and the sexual parts undergo final development. In the final stage the insects swarm above the water's surface, and the females drop their fertilized eggs. The mating process totally exhausts them, and they die as spent spinners.

In the composition, "The Hatch", a female spinner dances above the surface, hovering up and down, waiting to discharge its sexual obligation. The rainbow comes completely out of the water. This is a sure sign that the fish is feeding on a flying or drifting insect. During the hatch fishermen use "dry flies" which are floated on the surface to resemble adult mayflies. At other times, "wet flies" are submerged under water to resemble mayfly nymphs. There may be duns and spinners on the water at the same time. The dun has its wings in an upright position where the wings of a spinner are extended flat over the water's surface. The fisherman needs to observe closely as trout may show a preference for one over the other at certain times. This rainbow prefers a female spinner, full of unfertilized eggs, undulating just above the water's surface to attract its mate.

"Truly Canadian Wildlife Art"
MenzArt Gallery - Gil Menzies
Calgary, Alberta Canada

E-mail: lmenzies@menzies.com Website: www.menzart.com

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