Unlike many state streams, which pause for a respite around the beginning of May, Pine displays one of the greatest caddis hatches in the East the Cream Caddis at that time. Caddis adults can be seen for more than a week, appearing like blizzards from the past winter. Fly-fishing over this hatch, however, produces mixed results. Spend an afternoon from May 18 to May 25 on Pine, and you'll probably encounter the Gray Fox. This mayfly usually appears sporadically from afternoon until early evening.
Numbers are high, and the mayfly is sizable enough to promote some excellent dry-fly fishing.
Just about the time the Gray Fox diminishes in intensity, the Blue-Winged Olive takes over. At about the same date, but in the evening, hatches like the Brown Drake, Green Drake, and Slate Drake appear. If you have never witnessed a hatch of Brown Drake mayflies, you're in for a special treat. On the two or three evenings a year when these substantial insects emerge or when their spinners fall, you'll behold one of nature's finest ephemeral displays. Even though conditions on Pine deteriorate during much of the rest of the season, hatches continue almost without interruption.