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.
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It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
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Al514 on Dec 5, 2007December 5th, 2007, 3:04 pm EST
Here are a few wild browns. Got a bit of cabin fever here at school with finals week coming up and all I can think about is fish like this.
Jjlyon01 on Dec 5, 2007December 5th, 2007, 4:59 pm EST
I know what you mean man...Ive gotten up to the Salmon to play with the steelies a bit though.
"I now walk into the wild"
Martinlf on Dec 5, 2007December 5th, 2007, 5:35 pm EST
Now those are some real fish. Wild browns are my favorite, and with snow piling up outside and too much hassle at work these days these pics give me hope and a real good feeling about the coming season. Thanks.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Smallstream on Dec 7, 2007December 7th, 2007, 4:36 am EST
awesome, is that a dry fly in the net on the bottom picture?
Al514 on Dec 7, 2007December 7th, 2007, 10:08 am EST
Yes, it is an elk hair caddis.
JAD on Dec 10, 2007December 10th, 2007, 4:55 am EST
You know Louis, I will have to land them -you with your bad shoulder and all--
John
They fasten red (crimson red) wool around a hook, and fix onto the wool two feathers which grow under a cock’s wattles, and which in colour are like wax.
Radcliffe's Fishing from the Earliest Times,
West on Dec 13, 2007December 13th, 2007, 12:43 pm EST
Wow, the coloration on the third brown looks very similar to a lot of the browns i photographed last summer on a particular stream in northern Wisconsin. The sparse density and hue of the spots just scream "Fish Creek."
Nice browns, I'm a wild trout fanatic myself and there's nothing like a few nice fish pictures to make a person stare out the window and swear at the snow bank next to the house.
Nice browns, I'm a wild trout fanatic myself and there's nothing like a few nice fish pictures to make a person stare out the window and swear at the snow bank next to the house.
West
http://pleasantly-obsessed.blogspot.com/
http://pleasantly-obsessed.blogspot.com/
Jmd123 on Dec 13, 2007December 13th, 2007, 3:28 pm EST
The elkhair caddis strikes again! That looks just about my favorite color, too.
Jonathon
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Chris_3g
Posts: 59
Posts: 59
Chris_3g on Dec 14, 2007December 14th, 2007, 4:48 am EST
Is that a rubber net in the first photo? I've been wanting to get one, as they're supposed to be easier on the trout for C&R. Is this actually true? Does anyone know of a good brand that won't fall apart?
Chris.
Chris.
Martinlf on Dec 14, 2007December 14th, 2007, 6:00 am EST
Chris, I bought a Fisknat this summer and love it. It's light, seems tough enough, and is beautiful. Also it doesn't snag flies or pick up fish slime smell. I don't know of any studies about rubber bags, but it makes sense to me that they may be better for the fish. There are several other manufacturers out there, including one that makes a net with a clear bag that's supposed to be less spooky for fish when you land them. I'll never use anything but a rubber bag again.
Fisknat: http://www.fisknat.com/
Fisknat: http://www.fisknat.com/
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Wbranch on Dec 16, 2007December 16th, 2007, 2:26 am EST
Those are all beautifully colored browns and it appears they are all wild fish. The last fish looks to have some length and girth to it and be in the 16" - 17" range.
I still use woven cloth bags in both my wading net and my long handled boat net but am planning to put a rubber bag on my wading net this winter. I have heard it is more fish friendly but don't know why it would be so other than not having the knots in it. I'd like it as often I use a nymph trailing off of a dry fly and one of my flies always winds up getting snagged in the cloth net. Sometimes they are very difficult to get out and I can remember seasons when I'd have three of more flies snagged in the woven net.
I still use woven cloth bags in both my wading net and my long handled boat net but am planning to put a rubber bag on my wading net this winter. I have heard it is more fish friendly but don't know why it would be so other than not having the knots in it. I'd like it as often I use a nymph trailing off of a dry fly and one of my flies always winds up getting snagged in the cloth net. Sometimes they are very difficult to get out and I can remember seasons when I'd have three of more flies snagged in the woven net.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
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