Upwing fly's or Duns as they are more commonly known have been the insect imitated most by flytier's for well over 100 years, with classic patterns like the Greenwell's Glory and Quill Gordon. For all its importance it is a relatively small Order and while it is easy to identify adult members by their large upright wings and long tails, distinguishing individual species can be more difficult. As well as having two adult stages the males and females of the same species can look quite different, complicating matters further. Identification of nymphs to the species level can also be difficult beyond the six basic types. While it is worthwhile learning how to identify adults as this can make a huge difference when selecting the contents of your fly box, there is no real need for the average fly fisher to identify nymphs beyond these six types, indeed most anglers will carry imitations for two or three of these at most. More detailed identification information is included within the pages of each species below where you will also find links to the artificial patterns I use to imitate them.

The Life cycle of the Ephemeroptera order is unusual in that it has two stages of winged adult, the sub-imago (commonly known as the dun) and the imago (commonly known as the spinner) which is the breeding final stage in the cycle, before both of these are the egg and nymph stages. The nymph will usually spend a year on the riverbed before swimming to the surface where the dun emerges from the nymphal shuck as it splits along the thorax. The dun rests on the surface only long enough for its wings to dry before seeking out the riverbank vegetation or trees, it will spend anything from seconds to a few days here before transposing into the spinner and returning to the river to breed and lay its eggs. Some species lay their eggs from the surface while others crawl underwater from the riverbank and attach their eggs to stones or underwater vegetation before dieing and returning to the surface from the other direction.

Autumn Dun Caenis Blue Winged Olive Pale Watery Dun Yellow May Dun Olive Upright March Brown Large Dark Olive

This is not a complete list of Upwing species hatching in either Lanarkshire or Cumbria, however these are the most dependable hatches and are the only ones where specific hatch matching patterns are required or will improve your catch rates. It should also be remembered that hatch times will vary slightly according to location and weather, hatches in Cumbria will occasionally be a week or so earlier than Lanarkshire and severe weather can delay early season hatches by a few weeks.