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.

Cedar sweepers line the fertile spring creek headwaters of a famous trout stream.

From the Bois Brule River in Wisconsin

Stream photos

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Zapada cinctipes (Tiny Winter Black) Stonefly Nymph Zapada cinctipes (Tiny Winter Black) Stonefly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Zapada cinctipes (Nemouridae) (Tiny Winter Black) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

Nymphs of this species were fairly common in late-winter kick net samples from the upper Yakima River. Although I could not find a key to species of Zapada nymphs, a revision of the Nemouridae family by Baumann (1975) includes the following helpful sentence: "2 cervical gills on each side of midline, 1 arising inside and 1 outside of lateral cervical sclerites, usually single and elongate, sometimes constricted but with 3 or 4 branches arising beyond gill base in Zapada cinctipes." This specimen clearly has the branches and is within the range of that species.

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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.

True Fly Genus Atherix (Watersnipe Flies)

I have never seen these flies mentioned in a fly fishing book, entomology-oriented or otherwise. However, a large number of their larvae turned up in my early-July kicknet samples on the Gallatin River near Big Sky, Montana, which led me to photograph one and search Google for mentions. A couple other angler-scientists have written about them online:

John Newbury has blogged about imitating the larvae of Atherix with some success after finding quite a few in samples of other big western rivers like the Madison.

Rick Hafele has likewise written about finding good numbers of larvae on Montana's Big Hole river and having success fishing a green rockworm imitation (designed to imitate Rhyacophila caddisflies, which have a similar size and color if not precise body shape).