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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.

Artistic view of a Perlodidae (Springflies and Yellow Stones) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
This one seems to lead to Couplet 35 of the Key to Genera of Perlodidae Nymphs and the genus Isoperla, but I'm skeptical that's correct based on the general look. I need to get it under the microscope to review several choices in the key, and it'll probably end up a different Perlodidae.
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.

Grayling fishing and bug collecting at Nome Creek

Grayling fishing and bug collecting at Nome Creek

By Troutnut on July 9th, 2011
It's been a busy year, and this is the first time I've been out fly fishing. My wife and I drove up to Nome Creek for a couple hours, looking for some easy action on small grayling, and it did not disappoint. I was still threading the line up through my guides when I heard her calling from the stream with a grayling on her fly. I told her that since she got the first fly-caught fish of the year, she can officially wear her I outfish my husband! merchandise now.



I also collected some nymphs for the site for the first time in a few years, including several mature Ephemerella aurivillii nymphs. Our dog Taiga had not experienced kick-netting before, but she decided to try to be as helpful as she could, imitating me by walking in front of the net and pawing at the water. The collection was very successful.

Photos by Troutnut from Nome Creek in Alaska

The first fish on a fly of 2011 for either of us, and she caught it while I was still rigging up my rod.
Nome Creek in Alaska
Inspecting the net with my intrepid sidekick.

From Nome Creek in Alaska
This is the first time I've kicknetted bugs since we got Taiga, and she turns out to be so very helpful.

From Nome Creek in Alaska
Nome Creek in Alaska
Nome Creek in Alaska
My first good-sized grayling of the year, and the biggest I've seen in this creek, about 15-16 inches.
Nome Creek in Alaska
Nome Creek in Alaska

Closeup insects by Troutnut from Nome Creek in Alaska

Comments / replies

GONZO
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
GONZO on Jul 12, 2011July 12th, 2011, 5:27 pm EDT
Awesome, Jason! Congrats on getting these rare and revealing pix!
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Jul 12, 2011July 12th, 2011, 7:23 pm EDT
Well done, Jason! Congratulations.

Best regards,

Kurt
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Jesse
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Posts: 378
Jesse on Jul 12, 2011July 12th, 2011, 10:30 pm EDT
They are some great shots and beautiful scenery!
Most of us fish our whole lives..not knowing its not the fish that we are after.
http://www.filingoflyfishing.com
PaulRoberts
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Colorado

Posts: 1776
PaulRoberts on Jul 13, 2011July 13th, 2011, 5:12 am EDT
Very nice. Such nice images attached to a fishing report/slice of life are truly wonderful. Nice to know others are out there even if I'm stuck in domesticity.
Oldredbarn
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Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Jul 13, 2011July 13th, 2011, 8:16 am EDT
Jason,

Your bug there looks like a bleached or faded "Henny"...I think we could cover that one without a problem.

Love that Grayling...I've said here before that the only Grayling left in Grayling, MI is hanging on the wall at the Grayling Restaurant...I dream of fishing to them one day!

That's a pretty looking stream!

Spence

I'm also a little envious watching how little you are carrying there Jason...They used to say that the Grayling here wasn't such a "smart" fish and they would sometimes catch multiple fish at the same time on tandum rigs...Besides everything else they had to endure here this trait probably didn't work in their favor in the long run.
"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
Adirman
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Monticello, NY

Posts: 479
Adirman on Jul 13, 2011July 13th, 2011, 8:36 am EDT
That really looks alot like a Hendrickson or should I say, a Red Quill. Is there a common name?
Jmd123
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Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jul 13, 2011July 13th, 2011, 9:12 am EDT
BEE-YOO-TEE-FULL photos, Jason, both large and small. And way to show Spence how us "minimalists" do it before he requires some serious back surgery for carrying the load of two vests in one...

As far as Grayling, Michigan is concerned, I always refer to it as "the town named after the fish that it killed"...Kinda like streets named after the trees that used to grow there before they were all cut down for subdivisions and strip malls.

I'm envious that you have a fishing wife...and is that there dog helping kick up bugs off the bottom?

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

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Jul 13, 2011July 13th, 2011, 6:46 pm EDT
I just added pictures of 6 more bugs (7 specimens -- one was added separately as a nymph and dun). Now we know what both genders of Ephemerella aurivillii look like as duns.

Anyone know how to identify western Cinygmula (nymph & corresponding female dun) or Heptagenia (nymph) species?
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut
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Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Jul 13, 2011July 13th, 2011, 6:52 pm EDT
Is there a common name?


I've never heard of a common name for Ephemerella aurivillii, but it should probably have one considering how widespread it is.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Jul 13, 2011July 13th, 2011, 9:00 pm EDT
Jason -

One thing that strikes me as very interesting is both sexes have little color difference between their dorsal and ventral surfaces.

As to a common name? As probably the first photo's of duns associated with the nymphs taken Jason, the honor goes to you to get it started.

Whether we like it or not though, I think it's going to end up being lumped with the Hendricksons much like the small Western sulphurish ephemerellids are lumped with PMD's and the Eastern olivaceous ones are lumped with the BWO's. Perhaps get a jump on it and put an appropriate word in front of Hendrickson?

You can certainly see why this fly was never differentiated in the East. No excuse for us out West though. Rumors of large pinkish ephemerellids have persisted for years, and a few brave souls have even described them in print with the caveat that it must be the soil or water chemistry "that done it". Peer pressure is a funny thing. We're not supposed to have "Hendricksons" out West according to orthodoxy so these reports usually get chalked up to mistaking Epeorus albertae (Pink Gordon) inspite of the different tail count.

This is a very interesting turn of events.

Regards,

Kurt
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Troutnut
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Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Jul 13, 2011July 13th, 2011, 11:14 pm EDT
I'm not sure what would be a good common name for them. False Hendrickson, maybe? My first thought was "Little Western Hendrickson," but I don't really like those long compound common names that appear in books but nowhere else, and it's not just a western species anyway. Since it's a circumpolar mayfly, maybe it should be called the Magellan. Or, since the duns eluded public description for so long, they could be called Ninjas. Or, as you suggested, Bigfoot. Since I already have Darth Vaders and Booger Sulphurs on this site, it can't get a whole lot stranger. Here are a few more ideas...


  • Lipstick Sulphur
  • I Can't Believe it's not a Hendrickson!
  • Redandorolive Quill
  • Blue-Winged Olive (Why not? People call everything else that!)


I guess I'm kind of partial to the Latin name for this one. It's a fun one to say. It'll twist your tongue once or twice but then it really rolls off, assuming I'm pronouncing it correctly anyway: aura-villy-eye.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Taxon
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Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on Jul 14, 2011July 14th, 2011, 1:30 am EDT
Hi Jason-

My guess would be aur-uh-VILL-ee-eye.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Adirman
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Monticello, NY

Posts: 479
Adirman on Jul 14, 2011July 14th, 2011, 2:05 am EDT
What about calling it a Villy? Or, a Villy Hendrickson?
Adirman
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Monticello, NY

Posts: 479
Adirman on Jul 14, 2011July 14th, 2011, 2:11 am EDT
BTW, how do you bug guys tell the diff between the Villy and the Subvaria or, true Hendrickson (ha! ha!)
Oldredbarn
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Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Jul 14, 2011July 14th, 2011, 8:42 am EDT
BTW, how do you bug guys tell the diff between the Villy and the Subvaria or, true Hendrickson (ha! ha!)


Taste really! The Villy goes better with a Pinot and a slice of asiago while the good-old-fashioned Henny is better with an ever so slightly chilled Merlot...
"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
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Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jul 14, 2011July 14th, 2011, 9:23 am EDT
And what type of bread would you recommend, Spence? A nice sourdough, lightly toasted, or something more along the lines of a rye variety, perhaps with caraway seeds, hmmm? Or maybe a chunk of focaccia dipped in herbed olive oil...must be getting near my lunchtime!

Uh-oh, we're turning into the Food Channel again...

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

Posts: 1776
PaulRoberts on Jul 14, 2011July 14th, 2011, 9:35 am EDT
My vote is to NOT give it a common name.

How about Hellegravilly. If it catches on then someone in the future can puzzle over the name.
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Jul 14, 2011July 14th, 2011, 10:42 am EDT
All I ask is please, PLEASE, not a bastardization of it's scientific name! Flav's, Trico's. Lepto's, Hexes... Drives me nuts!:) How about Pale or Pink Hendrickson? You could throw a Western in there Jason, it's not that painful.:)

A play on it's name would be ok though. How about "Village Idiot"? Describing (encounters with) pink ephemerellids out West has unfairly caused a few anglers to be thought of that way in the past.:)
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Oldredbarn
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Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Jul 14, 2011July 14th, 2011, 11:23 am EDT
A play on it's name would be ok though. How about "Village Idiot"?


Better be careful here Kurt or Roger's going to think you and I have been out drinking together...Your tongue is in a cheek-like position in a Spencer-est fashion...;)
"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

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