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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

Dorsal view of a Limnephilidae (Giant Sedges) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This specimen resembled several others of around the same size and perhaps the same species, which were pretty common in my February sample from the upper Yakima. Unfortunately, I misplaced the specimen before I could get it under a microscope for a definitive ID.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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Bees

This common name refers to only one family. Click its scientific name to learn more.

Insect Family Anthophila

These are pretty much always called Bees.
Bees are never really regarded as an important trout food by anglers, but many flies (dating back to old winged wet flies) have been named after them and tied as imitations. Trout do eat plenty of bees, although they're rarely if ever a major portion of any trout's diet. Even the Royal Coachman and its cousins are said to suggest the striped body of a bee, although they are surely not often mistaken for bees. Instead, the striped pattern is one that occasionally appears on food and rarely appears on inedible things in the trout's world, so it's one more entry on their long list of cues that might tell them a thing drifting by is at least worth a taste test.

Anthophila is an unranked taxon, somewhere in between a "family" and an "order," but I've listed it as a family here to hold any pictures I've taken of bees.

Bees

Scientific Name
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