Western Hemlock Looper Moth - FFI Magazine
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Western Hemlock Looper Moth Brought to you by:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS ARTICLE ON FFIMAGAZINE.COM A competitive father/son fishing trip comes to fruition when—of all
things—a 20-year Looper moth hatch turns the trout onto giant terrestrials.
By Gil Greenberg | June 2021
population explodes for a few mouse pattern and got a few fish, nailed it. During the next two days I
years, which results in somewhat but my dad still dominated. fished big terrestrials nearly exclu-
of a plague—it’s said they can turn When we got to the end of sively. I found that any sort of large
a barn from black to creamy white our float, and after pulling the boat terrestrial would get hit, but the
overnight. These “hatches” occur out of the water, dad passed me a wide-bodied flies worked best. Im-
in September and October when wine bottle, an attempt to console parting action to the fly resulted in
adult moths emerge from their my bruised ego. While sort of look- far more eats than a dead-drifted
cocoons and fly around the forest ing down at me through question- presentation, which explained why
before breeding and dying. Obvi- ing and squinted eyes, he chuckled my dad had such good luck and
ously, some of these bugs end up and said, “Another win for the old so much fun while twitching and
on the water and, believe me, the man. If this keeps up, you’ll need skating that Turk’s Tarantula. Inter-
trout take notice. to find a new career.” I was shaking estingly, there were other moth
It took me a couple days my head and glaring at him when species flying around and some of
to get dialed in on the hatch, be- just over his shoulder and down- those ended up on the water, too,
cause we were focussed on the stream, a large rainbow soared but the trout didn’t touch them.
salmon egg/trout equation. While through the air trying to capture They only ate the Loopers and our
we were catching fish on egg pat- one of those cream-colored moths. imitations of them. Skating flies
terns, particularly behind the few A minute later another leaped out isn’t a novel idea in this portion of
salmon spawning beds we could of the water and snagged a moth British Columbia—NLL guides skate
find, we were not “slaying them” right out of the air, like a surface to flies throughout the year and en-
as we might have during a typical air missile finding its mark. joy great results when the fish are
sockeye run. In places where our The following morning, as looking up.
guides and their anglers would I made my way to the main lodge In the end, I had to admit
usually catch 20 to 30 fish, we only for breakfast, I noticed that the win- that “the old man” had it dialed
landed a handful of rainbows. dows and sides of our cabin were in before I did. That didn’t mean
These fish were in the 16-to 22- covered with moths. Thousands of I’d be looking for a new career
inch class, but were not the bruis- them. When dad wasn’t looking I anytime soon, but it was a healthy
ers we hoped to see. discreetly plucked a few of those hint to keep my eyes open while
While I was nerding-out moths off the wall and put them in fishing—in British Columbia or any-
I
one day, trying to match small my fly box. Dad didn’t know what where else for that matter—and
rainbow trout that follow those prevented sockeye from reaching mayflies, my dad was dragging, was about to hit him. adjust to changing conditions. On
fish upstream, as if chasing an Quesnel. I have my doubts about skating and even popping a Turk’s Later that morning I was dig- this trip the salmon went missing,
don’t care what’s hatching, egg-dispensing vending ma- that assessment, but, regardless, Tarantula across the surface. I ging through that box, looking for but the moths arrived in force. And
so long as it brings trout to the chine. Only this year the sockeye without salmon eggs feeding into watched as fish after fish came up the biggest and ugliest terrestrial once we realized that the trout
surface. And last summer, while didn’t show up. In fact, the Min- the system, the trout had to find al- and absolutely crushed that fly. imitation I could find. I spotted a were tearing up those terrestrials,
fishing at Northern Lights Lodge istry of Natural Resources count- ternative food sources. But why? My dad loves fishing, size-8 Tom Thumb that roughly re- our trip went from “what could
outside Williams Lake, British Co- ed less than a thousand fish in Enter the western hemlock loves catching fish, and has taken sembled those moths and trimmed have been” to an experience we’ll
lumbia, my dad and I experienced the entire Quesnel River system, looper moth, Lambdina fiscellaria trolling to a higher art form, but a it to form. I’ve always wanted to see never forget.
one of the strangest and most pro- down from over two million in lugubrosa. Even with an average great fly-fisherman he is not. Why a trout hit a fly in midair, so I made
ductive hatches I’ve ever seen. previous years. Officials pointed wingspan of 35 millimeters, these his and not mine? Stubbornly, I a parachute cast to the head of a
We were fishing the Quesnel blame at a large landslide down- big, cream-colored moths usually refused a Chernobyl Ant offered run. I didn’t get my midair connec-
watershed—an area famed for its stream in the Fraser River, which go unnoticed by trout and anglers by our guide, continuing to match tion, but the second that fly hit the
sockeye salmon run and the big created a natural barrier and alike. But every 15-to 20 years their tiny mayflies instead. I also tried a water, a healthy 21-inch rainbow
Gil Greenberg is the founder of Gil’s
Western Hemlock Fly Fishing International. He holds
a degree in marine biology and has
Looper Moth always felt most at home on the
water. At age 18, Gil bought his first
fly rod and took it on his family’s an-
A competitive father/son fishing trip nual walleye fishing trip. Just like so
comes to fruition when—of all things—a many fly-fishers before him, he was
20-year Looper moth hatch turns the instantly hooked on the fly. To date,
trout onto giant terrestrials. Gil has thrown flies at fish in over 25
countries, spanning five continents.
By Gil Greenberg | June 2021
Before getting into the fly-fishing
industry, Gil served in the IDF and
worked as a fisheries consultant in
the Solomon Islands.
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