Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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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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Revenge on the Gibbon
Revenge on the Gibbon
By Troutnut on June 28th, 2019
On June 29th, we hiked ten miles out from our Slough Creek backcountry campsite in the morning and enjoyed a good burger in downtown Gardiner. After picking up the camper trailer from its hiding spot in the hills above, we headed to camp for the next night in the town of West Yellowstone, near the headwaters of the Madison just outside the park.
Along the way we stopped at the Gibbon to fish a reach where I got skunked in the most frustrating manner last year. In that episode, the fish were rising and I had the right flies to draw eager strikes. On the first strike, my hook caught the bony part of a big fish's mouth and bent out without me realizing it. Several subsequent strikes failed because I was unknowingly fishing with a badly bent hook.
This time, I went back to the same area determined to exact revenge on the fish that made a fool of me last year. The big fish weren't rising at first, but I ran a soft-hackle through a really promising pool and caught a fairly large brown in the first few minutes. I missed another. After that, my friend and I both caught several smaller browns and cutts, especially toward dusk when caddisflies were active and the small fish were vigorously chasing them around. Some larger fish rose occasionally, but they were either feeding too sporadically or spooked by inadequate presentations in difficult spots. I don't mind being beaten by a fish that way, when I didn't do anything especially dumb and the fish was just too wily. I had already made up for last year.
Along the way we stopped at the Gibbon to fish a reach where I got skunked in the most frustrating manner last year. In that episode, the fish were rising and I had the right flies to draw eager strikes. On the first strike, my hook caught the bony part of a big fish's mouth and bent out without me realizing it. Several subsequent strikes failed because I was unknowingly fishing with a badly bent hook.
This time, I went back to the same area determined to exact revenge on the fish that made a fool of me last year. The big fish weren't rising at first, but I ran a soft-hackle through a really promising pool and caught a fairly large brown in the first few minutes. I missed another. After that, my friend and I both caught several smaller browns and cutts, especially toward dusk when caddisflies were active and the small fish were vigorously chasing them around. Some larger fish rose occasionally, but they were either feeding too sporadically or spooked by inadequate presentations in difficult spots. I don't mind being beaten by a fish that way, when I didn't do anything especially dumb and the fish was just too wily. I had already made up for last year.
Photos by Troutnut from the Gibbon River and the Lamar River in Wyoming
