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.

Stream photos

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Setvena wahkeena (Wahkeena Springfly) Stonefly Nymph Setvena wahkeena (Wahkeena Springfly) Stonefly Nymph

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.

7 Recently Added Photos

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.

Simuliidae (Black Fly) True Fly Larva Pictures

I strangely enhanced the colors in this picture to highlight the silk thread from which this larva is dangling. It attached the line to the little tweezers I used to pick it up, and when I lowered it into my little photo tank it was suspended by the line for a while. I believe some authors have mentioned imitating this line when fishing Simuliidae imitations, but that seems kind of silly given the diameter involved, probably something like a 30X tippet.

Artistic view of a Simuliidae (Black Fly) True Fly Larva from Fall Creek in New York

Simuliidae (Black Fly) True Fly Larva from Fall Creek in New York

Lateral view of a Simuliidae (Black Fly) True Fly Larva from Fall Creek in New York

Ventral view of a Simuliidae (Black Fly) True Fly Larva from Fall Creek in New York

Ruler view of a Simuliidae (Black Fly) True Fly Larva from Fall Creek in New York The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.

This true fly was collected from Fall Creek in New York on March 30th, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on April 2nd, 2007.

Discussions of this Larva

The more you know..

2 replies

Posted by Phineartz on Jan 16, 2019

Last reply on Jan 17, 2019 by Jmd123

These are always abundant in my stream samples and have even found them wriggling around on my pack after a dunking.. I have always thought they were midge larvae as that is the common assumption I've gathered from local anglers, but due to their size and shape I started to question this. Scouring online resources and comparing photos led me here, where I see they are a different critter altogether. I have never heard of anglers discussing the use of Simuliidae patterns but I'm looking forward to experimenting with them in the future. Thank you for the photos and the resource! -Mike in KY

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