Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
Featured on the forum
As far as I can tell, this species has only previously been reported from one site in Oregon along the Columbia gorge. However, the key characteristics are fairly unmistakable in all except for one minor detail:
— 4 small yellow spots on frons visible in photos
— Narrow occipital spinule row curves forward (but doesn’t quite meet on stem of ecdysial suture, as it's supposed to in this species)
— Short spinules on anterior margin of front legs
— Short rposterior row of blunt spinules on abdominal tergae, rather than elongated spinules dorsally
I caught several of these mature nymphs in the fishless, tiny headwaters of a creek high in the Wenatchee Mountains.
— 4 small yellow spots on frons visible in photos
— Narrow occipital spinule row curves forward (but doesn’t quite meet on stem of ecdysial suture, as it's supposed to in this species)
— Short spinules on anterior margin of front legs
— Short rposterior row of blunt spinules on abdominal tergae, rather than elongated spinules dorsally
I caught several of these mature nymphs in the fishless, tiny headwaters of a creek high in the Wenatchee Mountains.
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.
Mayfly Genus Baetisca (Armored Mayflies)
These mayflies are a sleeper hatch which has barely received a nod in the fly fishing literature. Their abundance never matches that of the classic superhatches, but they can be important on some waters. The taxonomic common name for this family and genus is Armored Mayfly but angler reports often refer to them as Humpback Nymphs and the adults as Speckled Duns or Batflies.
Their primary claim to fame is their peculiar shape, both as nymphs and as adults. On most rivers they are a rare oddity, but there are places where their spinner falls elicit greedy rises and staunch selectivity from the trout. These spinners never even come close to blanketing the water, but trout have such an affinity for them that even their sparsest falls should excite the angler.
I favor two explanations for their importance. First, they have a very stout profile, and late-season beetle action suggests that trout like this trait. Second, the Baetisca action lasts for up to a month on a single stretch of water. This caters to the selective trout's love of the familiar.
Their primary claim to fame is their peculiar shape, both as nymphs and as adults. On most rivers they are a rare oddity, but there are places where their spinner falls elicit greedy rises and staunch selectivity from the trout. These spinners never even come close to blanketing the water, but trout have such an affinity for them that even their sparsest falls should excite the angler.
I favor two explanations for their importance. First, they have a very stout profile, and late-season beetle action suggests that trout like this trait. Second, the Baetisca action lasts for up to a month on a single stretch of water. This caters to the selective trout's love of the familiar.
Where & when
I have found good populations of Baetisca laurentina in three drainages in northern Wisconsin, where their activity peaks in early June but continues through the rest of the month. I've known fish on the Bois Brule River to feed greedily and selectively on Baetisca spinners. In the East, where the major species is Baetisca obesa, Ernest Schwiebert reported their importance on the Neversink in the Catskills, and I've heard multiple reports of Baetisca spinner fall rises on the Battenkill in Vermont.In 35 records from GBIF, adults of this genus have mostly been collected during June (31%), May (23%), April (17%), July (11%), August (9%), and March (6%).
In 17 records from GBIF, this genus has been collected at elevations ranging from 3 to 2625 ft, with an average (median) of 2152 ft.
Genus Range
Hatching behavior
Baetisca nymphs crawl out of the water to emerge, which may take ten minutes or more, so the duns are of no interest to the trout. They are unique among mayflies in that they may crawl more than one meter from the water to emerge, a behavior reported in Edmunds and McCafferty's The Mayfly Subimago. Some stoneflies do this, but other mayflies which crawl out of the water only go a few inches.The duns are pretty insects with stout bodies and Dalmatian-speckled wings which become clear when they molt into spinners.
Spinner behavior
Time of day: Mid-evening. They usually fall from 8 to 9 p.m., but can anytime from 6:30 to dusk. Sometimes dawn.
Habitat: Both riffles and calm runs
Notice in my photos that the female spinners are extremely fat mayflies (don't tell them I said that). The males, though still not as slender as a normal mayfly, are much less robust. Spinner patterns should imitate the full-figured females, because they seem to be more common on the water than the males.
They are rarely spent as soon as they fall on the water. They float at first with their wings upright like duns, and then many collapse half-spent for quite a while before finally losing their energy and becoming fully spent. These upright and half-spent phases last longer with Baetisca spinners than with other mayflies.
I have always fished Baetisca spinners in the evening in Wisconsin, but an early-rising friend reports spinner falls very early in the morning over slow water in Michigan.
Nymph biology
Current speed: Slow to medium
Substrate: Very diverse: cobble, gravel, sand, silt
Environmental tolerance: Schwiebert writes that they prefer cold, acid watersheds, but I have found fishable populations in alkaline streams of marginal temperature as well.
Several authors write that the nymphs submerge themselves in the thin layer of silt and detritus that accumulates in the calm shallows. I do collect the most nymphs from such habitats, but they are also found on large rocks in riffles and on sunken logs.
Baetisca nymphs are surprisingly fast swimmers given their awkward shape. They move like Baetis nymphs wearing backpacks. See my video at the bottom of this page.
Baetisca Fly Fishing Tips
It is essential to imitate the thick, opaque body of the Baetisca spinners with a specialized fly. A normal thin-bodied spinner pattern in the right color and hook size once left me skunked after 45 minutes casting to two dozen selective Baetisca-feeding trout. I do not repeat that mistake.I wrap an underbody of thin closed-cell foam to the appropriate profile and dub over it. Fly shops in Baetisca country sell patterns with heavy badger hackle, because the dark inside color is suggestive of the spinner's thick body. Both patterns can work.
Specimens of the Mayfly Genus Baetisca
2 Male Duns
I found this dun floating on the surface at night while I mucked around in the shallows collecting nymphs. I suspect he may have been prompted to emerge by the stress of my disturbance.
2 Female Duns
This Baetisca obesa dun hatched out in my aquarium from nymphs collected a couple weeks earlier.
2 Male Spinners
2 Female Spinners
17 Nymphs
I took a few group picture of a bunch of Baetisca laurentina nymphs to show the degree of individual variation in size, color, and shape that can occur within the same species in the same pool of the same river. This variation is one important reason why trout are forgiving of some small degree of variation in our imitations--the naturals themselves vary, too.
This very small, early instar specimen has some interesting markings, but it's too underdeveloped to identify.
I'm unsure which species this is: it lacks the usual features of B. laurentina, but it's small, so maybe it's just an underdeveloped early instar. Otherwise, it looks like it might be B. obesa.
I've only got blurry pictures of this small Baetisca nymph, because it was zooming around the container in a frenzy. Several characteristics, if taken literally, suggest that it may be Baetisca lacustris. However, it's very small and it's the only candidate lacustris I collected among several laurentina specimens, so it's possible this is just an underdeveloped early instar laurentina.
This is also a very rare mayfly. This specimen was the first ever collected in western Montana. Only 5 specimens have been collected from this large river.
1 Underwater Picture of Baetisca Mayflies:
There's a very well-camouflaged Baetisca laurentina mayfly nymph resting on the twig in the bottom left corner of this picture. Can you spot him?
In this picture: Mayfly Species Baetisca laurentina (Armored Mayfly).
1 Video of Baetisca Mayflies:
Swimming Baetisca Mayfly Nymph
The clumsy-looking mayfly nymphs of the genus Baetisca are surprisingly good swimmers.
Featuring: Baetisca Mayfly Nymph
Discussions of Baetisca
An important hatch
2 replies
Posted by Troutnut on Jun 26, 2006 in the species Baetisca laurentina
Last reply on Apr 8, 2013 by Willy
Based on reports from several sources and my own experiences, I'm beginning to think it is significantly more important than it has been credited for. The duns emerge by crawling out onto land, so they aren't important, but some of my most memorable fishing nights of 2005 were due to Baetisca spinner falls.
It is a tricky hatch to detect. I haven't seen more than a couple of their spinners in the air at a time, though some of my friends report spotting their swarms. Normally for me they just showed up on the water from unseen swarms upstream. They were mixed with spinners from Ephemerella invaria and Maccaffertium vicarium, among others, but the fish were relentlessly selective to the Baetisca laurentina spinners.
I wasted the better part of an hour flinging a sulphur imitation the first time I encountered a Baetisca fall. Like Ephemerella spinners, they can be hard to spot on the water, and they were much more sparse. I finally captured one, noticed the very different body profile, and since I didn't have anything remotely imitating it I continued to catch no fish. I returned the next night with an imitation with a robust, opaque body, and the fish went crazy for it.
I just finished reading through the account by Caucci and Nastasi in Hatches II about how the extremely important Ephemerella invaria sulphur species went unnoticed for decades because it was confused with Ephemerella dorothea. The maddening difficulty of some dorothea hatches was partially explained away once people understood this difference.
Although Baetisca is much less prominent than Ephemerella invaria, I suspect it has similarly been confused with well-known sulphur species in the rare locations and occasions where it is important.
It is a tricky hatch to detect. I haven't seen more than a couple of their spinners in the air at a time, though some of my friends report spotting their swarms. Normally for me they just showed up on the water from unseen swarms upstream. They were mixed with spinners from Ephemerella invaria and Maccaffertium vicarium, among others, but the fish were relentlessly selective to the Baetisca laurentina spinners.
I wasted the better part of an hour flinging a sulphur imitation the first time I encountered a Baetisca fall. Like Ephemerella spinners, they can be hard to spot on the water, and they were much more sparse. I finally captured one, noticed the very different body profile, and since I didn't have anything remotely imitating it I continued to catch no fish. I returned the next night with an imitation with a robust, opaque body, and the fish went crazy for it.
I just finished reading through the account by Caucci and Nastasi in Hatches II about how the extremely important Ephemerella invaria sulphur species went unnoticed for decades because it was confused with Ephemerella dorothea. The maddening difficulty of some dorothea hatches was partially explained away once people understood this difference.
Although Baetisca is much less prominent than Ephemerella invaria, I suspect it has similarly been confused with well-known sulphur species in the rare locations and occasions where it is important.
Baetisca in Vermont
1 replies
Posted by BRAT on Oct 25, 2009
Last reply on Oct 25, 2009 by Taxon
Hi there; I just gathered a sample from our local Black River here in SE Vermont, and found a thriving population of armored mayflies. Wasn't sure what they were at first, with their bubble-humped backs and short little tails, but once I used my hand lens I realized they have tiny little "thorns" behind their last legs. Their mottled coloring resembles everything I've seen here, confirming my ID. I'll be sending off a sample to a friendly bug lab to let the pros look at them.
Similiar found in Minnesota
1 replies
Posted by PRohlfsen on May 11, 2007 in the species Baetisca obesa
Last reply on May 11, 2007 by Troutnut
I was fishing the Vermillion River in Minnesota south of the metro area and found a nymph similar to the Armored Mayfly Nymph. It did appear to be much more green in color. It was moving through a really muddy part of the stream, which I found interesting.
Can't wait to hit this hatch
Posted by Troutnut on Jun 12, 2006 in the species Baetisca laurentina
Last reply on Jun 12, 2006 by Troutnut
It sounds like the Baetisca hatch is really going on here in northern Wisconsin now. I've heard reports from more than one source about fishable Baetisca laurentina hatches on two of my favorite rivers. I bought some imitations and hopefully I'll be using them tomorrow!
Start a Discussion of Baetisca
References
- Edmunds, G.F. and W.P. McCafferty. 1988. The Mayfly Subimago. Annual Review of Entomology 33: 509-527.
- Knopp, Malcolm and Robert Cormier. 1997. Mayflies: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera . The Lyons Press.
- Schwiebert, Ernest. 1973. Nymphs. Wichester Press.
Mayfly Genus Baetisca (Armored Mayflies)
Taxonomy
Species in Baetisca
Baetisca callosa
0
0
Baetisca carolina
0
0
Baetisca columbiana
1
1
Baetisca lacustris
0
0
Baetisca laurentina
18
92
Baetisca obesa
3
35
Baetisca rubescens
0
0
Species in Baetisca: Baetisca callosa, Baetisca carolina, Baetisca columbiana, Baetisca lacustris, Baetisca laurentina, Baetisca obesa, Baetisca rubescens
5 species (Baetisca becki, Baetisca berneri, Baetisca escambiensis, Baetisca gibbera, and Baetisca rogersi) aren't included.