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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.

Dorsal view of a Setvena wahkeena (Perlodidae) (Wahkeena Springfly) Stonefly Nymph from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington
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.
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.
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Landscapes

Landscapes

Chasing trout in wild places is not just about the river and fish at the end, but the landscapes that shape them and are shaped by them.

This Parry's Primrose was growing out of a crack in a boulder wall overhanging a snowdrift that still hadn't melted by late July.
Sunlight Creek in Wyoming
Amargosa Range Mountains in Death Valley National Park

From Death Valley in California
Hill in Twenty Mule Team Canyon

From Death Valley in California
Volcano Meadow stretches out beneath the dormant cone of an old volcano deep in the Golden Trout Wilderness.
Foxtail pines below Cirque Peak
Some of the ancient trees in this grove are around 5,000 years old. They've aged well. They don't look a day over 4,900 to me.

From Miscellaneous in California
Miscellaneous in California
Scars of an old fire
Big sky country!

From Mystery Creek # 237 in Montana
A small cloud dropped snow flurries and then moved out of the way so the sun would light them up.
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