When does the Duckfly hatch?

March–April, typically 11:00–16:00. It starts from about 7°C, peaks around 8.5°C and tails off by 14°C.

What flies imitate the Duckfly?

Connemara Black, typically on a #16–14 hook.

How big is the Duckfly?

Adult stage: 6–9mm. That matches a #16–14 hook.

Midge · Aquatic insect

Duckfly

Chironomus anthracinus

Size

6–9mm

Hook size

#16–14

Hatch window

Season March–AprilPeak time 11:00–16:00

Water temperature

8.5° peak

7°14°

How fish feed on it

Once up, the fly doesn't linger, and it's rarely the fly that tells you the hatch is on — it's the ducks, working the surface for a fortnight's easy feeding, which is where the name comes from and always has been. Don't confuse it with the Sepia Dun, a genuine mayfly hatching the same weeks on the same loughs; the Duckfly is this midge and no other, and it's the pupa doing the work while the winged fly gets the credit. Worth saying plainly that the name goes no further than Ireland — the same hatch on an English reservoir or a Scottish loch is simply an early buzzer, and no one there will know what you mean by it. Hatching Duckfly, Blae and Black and Sooty Olive earn their place on the cast; there's little to be gained looking past them.

Flies that imitate this

Connemara Black

Ecology

Rivers & stillwaterLimestone loughsTolerates poor water

Where you'll find this

British IslesCommon
Atlantic fringeOccasional
ScandinaviaOccasional
Continental EuropeScarce

Common Occasional

Identification

Chironomus anthracinus is a species of fly in the family Chironomidae. It is found in the Palearctic .

Buzzers & Diptera →