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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.

Case view of a Pycnopsyche guttifera (Limnephilidae) (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
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.
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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Squarehog1 has attached these 4 pictures to this report. The message is below.
I have upgraded to a larger net.  This was a failed attempt

Report at a Glance

General RegionSw idaho
Specific LocationSouth Fork Boise
Dates FishedSept 4
Time of Day7 am - 6 pm
Fish Caught2 rainbows 12”, 17”
Conditions & HatchesSmall pink mayflies, terrestrials, some caddies, hot dry light gusts of wind in the afternoon

Details and Discussion

Squarehog1
Squarehog1's profile picture
ID

Posts: 1
Squarehog1 on Sep 7, 2020September 7th, 2020, 2:41 pm EDT
This is an amazing river with big strong smart rainbow trout. Catch and release barbless hook. On this trip , shortly after switching to a hopper /ant , I hooked a dandy that jumped straight away and threw the hook.. I landed a good one a while later. I also caught my personal best this spring. A real trophy that took me 18.5 minutes to land.. I got it all on my chest mount go pro. So the first pic is from Friday and the others of my trophy. Please watch my videos as well. I make them for fun, I only have 11 subscribers haha.

https://youtu.be/aVdlVdO28H4

https://youtu.be/MUDd8BMJ_bs
Martinlf
Martinlf's profile picture
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047
Martinlf on Sep 13, 2020September 13th, 2020, 7:53 am EDT
Nice photos.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
Red_green_h
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New Mexico

Posts: 64
Red_green_h on Sep 18, 2020September 18th, 2020, 10:21 am EDT
Great videos!!! Thanks for the inspiration. Makes me want to go out right now.

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