Damsel & Dragonfly Nymph (Southern)
Nymphs are in the water all year, long before and after the hatch window — the season and temperature figures on this card describe when the adults emerge, not when this stage is available. It very nearly always is.
The damsel nymph is a real swimmer — a wriggling, side-to-side motion that trout lock onto — but the moment that matters is the migration. Just before emergence they leave the weed and head for the margins in numbers, all travelling the same way at the same time, and fish patrol the shallows to meet them. Fish it shallow, towards the bank, with a slow jerky retrieve. Away from that window it's a fair searching fly; during it, it's the only one worth having on.
- New ZealandPresent
- PatagoniaPresent
Xanthocnemis zealandica , commonly known as red damsefly or red coat damselfly is the most common native New Zealand damselfly. Adult damselflies are often seen flying around vegetation close to streams.