The main reason I asked, was yesterday we had some emergers pop in the net, and fly away. Most of us live in the future, or the past, fleetingly in the present..
Few things grab the customer (or me) with the force of watching bugs change from one life form to another. It is the now......and that is where we need to be, to catch trout!
Turning over rocks is good (I do that as well.), but the small stuff, is mostly caught in the net.
I got light colored mosquito netting, duct taped it to two sticks cut to fit my pack.
Do three separate seines.
1. Skim the surface for a while. Top 6" for 40 sec. Evaluate.
2. Do a full depth seine, but don't let water go over the top. 30-40 sec. Evaluate.
3. Repeat the full depth, but disturb the bottom, upstream of the net. 10sec.
The foamy water has the most bugs. But it is interesting to sample different parts of the stream. Back waters, silty stuff, grass, etc....
I'm math challenged, so we don't count, or key the bugs.
Just get out a flybox, hold it up, and compare colors and sizes.
I help little kids do it. (They pick their own flies.) You don't need to know the names, just the availability.
The skim/deep seine tells what is the menu's "special" right now.
The deep disturbed seine gives you most all the water menu, except for accidentals (hopper, ants, beetles, etc.), and the quick stuff like crays or fry.
Next to catching fish, it can be the highlight of the day....
Jim
Rip's stocking over the net is the cheapest, smallest, to carry. Almost nothing in your pocket.
Wanted to add, light colored material is best, most of the bugs are darkish. Helps to see them.