Header image
Enter a name
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 Ephemerella mucronata (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
This is an interesting one. Following the keys in Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019) and Jacobus et al. (2014), it keys clearly to Ephemerella. Jacobus et al provide a key to species, but some of the characteristics are tricky to interpret without illustrations. If I didn't make any mistakes, this one keys to Ephemerella mucronata, which has not previously been reported any closer to here than Montana and Alberta. The main character seems to fit well: "Abdominal terga with prominent, paired, subparallel, spiculate ridges." Several illustrations or descriptions of this holarctic species from the US and Europe seem to match, including the body length, tarsal claws and denticles, labial palp, and gill shapes. These sources include including Richard Allen's original description of this species in North America under the now-defunct name E. moffatae in Allen RK (1977) and the figures in this description of the species in Italy.
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.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Oldredbarn has attached these 3 pictures. The message is below.
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Jul 26, 2015July 26th, 2015, 9:26 am EDT
Floated the evening of July 19th with Phil Croff of Croff's Crafts Drift Boats...http://www.croffcraft.com/

We started the float at 10:00pm and stopped fishing the next morning at 6:00am...

We fished variations on the Gartside Gurgler that looked more like foam mice and frogs. The river was full of Leopard frogs.

I had a blast! I fish into the darkness and have for many, many, years, but its usually spinner falls or the hatches of the flies that show up after dark.

Tossing a fly in the darkness and hearing it get smacked and then a head shaking weight is a thrill.

These fish are a mixture of trout...Some resident fish. Others leave Burt lake as monsters trying to avoid the summer heat in the lake and looking for food. These are awesome predators and you really get an appreciation for this in the middle of the night.

It takes some relaxing to not strike too soon...You hear the attack, but they haven't closed their mouths on it completely until you feel the weight of the fish. Sometimes they smack the prey to stun it and then turn on it and swallow it.

Phil was a wonderful guide. We fished from the boat or occasionally got out and fished prime holding areas. He showed me a couple "Spey" type casts that work well in this tight situation.

I caught a few fish, but lost a couple I really wish I had a chance to see...:)

Fishing in the dark is a trip. Its mostly forest but around 4:00 in the morning we were laughing and having a good time when we heard someones dog barking...I saw an upstairs bedroom light go on, and then a woman on the back porch asking us to keep it down...Oops! "Sorry!" :)

I wish I had some better pics. Some of these spots on the river were sweet. Long gravel runs that went deep and dark in the bends...Great holding water.

My wife went up with me and we stayed near Alanson for a couple days and then birded our way home...Well...birded and ate, and swam, and had a wonderful time.
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jul 26, 2015July 26th, 2015, 4:54 pm EDT
Nice fishies Spence! Hexes are done, can I assume?

I tried a little mousing on the nearby Maple River during my U of M Bio Station (a.k.a. Bug Camp) days, but didn't stay out quite as late as you did. There are rumors of big browns ascending the Maple too, though the mouth is pretty shallow and braided. I've always thought bass bugs at night would work well for those big prowlers. Pulled an all-nighter, did ya!! Just like back in college...

Again well done, glad you had a chance to get at least near to some of my old stomping grounds. Good birding too??

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
PaulRoberts
PaulRoberts's profile picture
Colorado

Posts: 1776
PaulRoberts on Jul 27, 2015July 27th, 2015, 8:36 am EDT
Wow! Just Wow! That is exciting fishing. A nice write-up too. I did a bit of that kind of fishing on the small creeks back in NY. There are monsters even in those little creeks most FFers never know are there.
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Jul 28, 2015July 28th, 2015, 10:01 am EDT
Paul...My head is racing, sir...Just think of our discussions of Mr Bob Wyatt and add these predacious, night stalkers, lying in wait for anything that may stumble into the creek! They are gators! It was a fascinating float!

This stream is wonderful for steelhead as well and I'd like to get back up there so I can see the damn stream in the daylight! :)

The wild character of this stream is outstanding. I would love to show it to you and Kurt sometime...This is hunting, flat out head hunting in a primitive form...Night stalking!

How about that first pic above?! You can imagine these pigs lying in the shallows up next to the weeds waiting for some frog to make a misstep and end up lunch. I can imagine these guys pushing the smaller fish upstream.

Jonathon...The birding was out of this world! I added a couple Lifers to the list...A Piping Plover and her two young, and an Alder Flycatcher. Saw a Merlin and its two young and a Great Crested Flycatcher feeding their young in a woodpecker hole in a dead tree...Have you ever ventured over to the Shaiwassee NWR? 81 Great Egrets there!!!

Spence

"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jul 28, 2015July 28th, 2015, 6:32 pm EDT
You know Spence, I suffer from insomnia enough that I should just go hit a few local spots in the wee hours. Guess I might want a fishing buddy willing to pull an all-nighter...the Rifle isn't too bad, fairly open in the Selkirk stretch and I know there has to be some "alligators" in there that only come out for night owls (oh and yes, barred owls are in the vicinity, many years ago got to listen to one changing trees above my head while wading down in complete darkness). Now the Pine, well that's a little scarier, simply because there are many more ways to "face-plant" into the river...but as small as it is there are big ones hiding in there, got a 14-inch rainbow 3 summers ago and you know they get bigger. Frogs are in the vicinity too...got a box of poppers that I use on the bass in Clark's Marsh.

Need some caffeine perhaps? With my tendency to stay up late at night I often wonder if I shouldn't have been a professional astronomer...maybe if I were more turned on by mathematics...

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

Quick Reply

Related Discussions

Topic
Replies
Last Reply
5
Dec 13, 2008
by NSteel
Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy