Troutnut: Fly Fishing and Hatch Knowledge, Photos, and Discussions : Blog, page 78

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.

Upper Titcomb Lake

From Titcomb Basin in Wyoming

Stream photos

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Re: Trico emergers
In the Mayfly Genus Tricorythodes by Bwoklink (Martinlf replied)

Re: Trico Tips
In the Mayfly Genus Tricorythodes by Martinlf

Re: UV spectrum and trout
In General Discussion by Martinlf

Re: closing the gender gap in flyfishing
In General Discussion by Konchu (Smallflyguy replied)

Re: Fishing Kupa River, Slovenia
In Fishing Reports by Slocum (Fish1 replied)

Pycnopsyche guttifera (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Pycnopsyche guttifera (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

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.

15 Recently Added Photos

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.

Updates from September 3, 2007

Photos by Troutnut from the Kuparuk River, Galbraith Lake, Dalton Highway, the Atigun River, the Sagavanirktok River, and the Dietrich River in Alaska

The Kuparuk is known and written up in the guides as a good grayling fishery, but this is the only one I caught when I fished half a mile up from the road. Grayling can be fairly migratory, and perhaps they were already elsewhere preparing for winter when I fished.

A cow caribou behind the Kuparuk River, with the Philip Smith Mountains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the background.

From the Kuparuk River in Alaska

A herd of caribou (all cows) crossing over a hilltop near the Kuparuk River.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

I think this picture really conveys the size of the lower Sag River.

From the Sagavanirktok River in Alaska

A beautiful braided reach of the Sag River, with the Philip Smith Mountains in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the background.

From the Sagavanirktok River in Alaska

A dall sheep yew and her lamb walk a trail that appears to be nothing but sheer cliff on the side of a mountian near the Dalton Highway -- I think it was Slope Mountain.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

This pool produced a few good grayling for me once I found a safe way down around the high gravel bluff.

From the Sagavanirktok River in Alaska

On-stream insect photos by Troutnut from the Kuparuk River in Alaska

This is Troutnut.com's first picture of a springtail, a type of six-legged, non-insect arthropod. It's riding on the surface film under the mayfly's left tail.

From the Kuparuk River in Alaska

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Updates from September 2, 2007

Photos by Troutnut from Dalton Highway, Oksrukuyik Creek, the Sagavanirktok River, the Kuparuk River, the Atigun River, and Galbraith Lake in Alaska

A musk ox grazing near the Sag River in the coastal plain.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

Here Oksrukuyik Creek flows away from the Dalton Highway toward the pipeline. It eventually grows into one of the major rivers of the North Slope, and the main drainage to the west of the Sag, but where it crosses the road it's just a small grayling stream.

From Oksrukuyik Creek in Alaska

Kuparuk River

From the Kuparuk River in Alaska

Dall sheep on the side of the mountain overlooking Galbraith Lake, north of Atigun Pass.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

A lone caribou grazes on the Arctic coastal plain near Prudhoe Bay.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

The Sag at Franklin Bluffs.

From the Sagavanirktok River in Alaska

The lower Sag's size is impressive here at Franklin Bluffs (those hills on the left), not far from Deadhorse and the Prudhoe Bay oil fields.

From the Sagavanirktok River in Alaska

A muddy, mile-wide cobble bar on the very lower Sagavanirktok (or "Sag") River.

From the Sagavanirktok River in Alaska

This close-up of the tundra gives you some sense of what it's like to walk on the stuff. I've heard it compared to walking on a mattress stuffed with basketballs.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

This cow caribou ran across the road in front of my car.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

This is one of the many shallow, unnamed lakes in the Arctic coastal plain near the Dalton Highway.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

More of the same herd of musk oxen.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

Underwater photos by Troutnut from the Sagavanirktok River in Alaska

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Updates from September 1, 2007

Photos by Troutnut from Dalton Highway, the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River, the Atigun River, the Yukon River, Grayling Lake, the Jim River, the Dietrich River, Fish Creek, and the North Fork of Bonanza Creek in Alaska

The Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River in Alaska

This view of the pipeline, the Atigun River, and an impressive sunset/rise was one of my first views of the North Slope as I came through Atigun Pass in the middle of the night.

From the Atigun River in Alaska

This is the first good view of the Yukon as you come up from the south.

From the Yukon River in Alaska

This juvenile Chinook salmon was one of many attacking my fly in a surprisingly fast, deep pool on the Jim River, a tributary of the Koyukuk. There's no fishery there (or anywhere along the Dalton Highway, really) for the adult salmon, because they're too few in number and protected.

This is one of the first creeks crossed on the Dalton Highway itself, but I can't remember its name.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

This is one of my favorite pictures -- I think it really captures the character of the place. This is the view from the south of Sukakpak Mountain, a prominent landmark on the south side of the Brooks Range. The Dalton Highway winds in an arc around Sukapak, providing very different views from different angles.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

Middle Fork Koyukuk

From the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River in Alaska

Snowden Mountain in the Brooks Range, viewed here from the north, is one of the most impressive peaks along the Dalton Highway. It's coloration is striking in the evening light out of the west.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

South Fork Koyukuk

From the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River in Alaska

Dietrich River

From the Dietrich River in Alaska

View from the Elliott Highway not far north of Fairbanks, on my way up to the Dalton.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

North Fork of Bonanza Creek

From the North Fork of Bonanza Creek in Alaska

The Yukon River Bridge. It doesn't look as intimidating from this angle as from up above when you see that it's "paved" with wood, although I trust that was a wise engineering decision given all the truck traffic and extreme weather conditions.

From the Yukon River in Alaska

A panoramic view from Finger Mountain along the Dalton Highway. This is one of the more developed rest stops along the highway, and the view is vast and spectacular. The "finger" that gives Finger Mountain its name is sticking up in the distance behind the cars in the parking lot.

From Dalton Highway in Alaska

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Updates from August 30, 2007

Closeup insects by Bnewell from Crazy Beaver Spring in Montana

Siphlonurus autumnalis (Gray Drake) Mayfly Nymph

1 Picture

Siphlonurus autumnalis (Siphlonuridae) (Gray Drake) Mayfly Nymph from Crazy Beaver Spring in Montana

Collected August 30, 2007 from Crazy Beaver Spring in Montana

Added by Bnewell on June 28, 2011

Collected August 30, 2007 from Crazy Beaver Spring in Montana and added by Bnewell on June 28, 2011

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Halibut fishing out of Homer, Alaska

By Troutnut on August 26th, 2007

After fishing the Kenai I headed down to Homer and went on a half-day halibut fishing trip with North Country Charters. It was my first time out on the ocean.

One of the most memorable parts was catching a two-foot-long spiny dogfish shark. In my head, the reaction was, "Wow! I just caught a shark!" I thought some pictures were in order, at least. But the captain immediately unhooked it and unceremoniously tossed it back into Cook Inlet. I soon learned that dogfish are very common and are considered a nuisance or trash fish by halibut anglers and charters, which is why the captain treated it like a creek chub he'd just removed from a trout fly. They could be a little more alert to the fact that some of their customers might find catching any shark to be pretty exciting. Still, I had a great time with them and have gone out again with them service since then.