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Artistic view of a Male Pteronarcys californica (Pteronarcyidae) (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Adult from the Gallatin River in Montana
Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica

The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.

Lateral view of a Male Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #308 in Washington
This dun emerged from a mature nymph on my desk. Unfortunately its wings didn't perfectly dry out.
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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Hydropsyche californica (Spotted Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Pictures

Size - 14 mm

Condition - preserved

Habitat - cobble bottom, moderate flow run, at a depth of approx. 1 1/2 feet.

Key Characters - pair of large prosternal sclerites


This is a very common taxon at this location. I collected using a kick net. In life, it is bright olive green ventrally, shading to a dull olive at its dorsal abdominal surfaces. In the hand, the legs, thoraxic regions, and head appear medium chocolate brown. The stark contrast of the thoraxic plate's dark edges and light legs are effects of preserving. The plumouse anal hooks were duck down gray, not the color of the gills as appears in the preserved specimen.

The Lower Yuba River is a good habitat for this species, being a larger river with an open canopy. The Feather River just to the north of the Yuba system also finds H. californica in abundance. The other common Hydropsyche species in the area, Hydropsyche occidentalis, seems to prefer smaller, shaded streams.

Entoman

This caddisfly was collected from the Lower Yuba River in California on March 9th, 2011 and added to Troutnut.com by Entoman on November 2nd, 2011.


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Hydropsyche californica (Spotted Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Pictures

Collection details
Location: Lower Yuba River, California
Date: March 9th, 2011
Added to site: November 2nd, 2011
Author: Entoman
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