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.

Neversink Gorge (Wolf Brook) in New York

Stream photos

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Skwala (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph Skwala (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Skwala (Perlodidae) (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

This Skwala nymph still has a couple months left to go before hatching, but it's still a good representative of its species, which was extremely abundant in my sample for a stonefly of this size. It's obvious why the Yakima is known for its Skwala hatch.

6 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.

Been at the vise

Softhackle has attached these 3 pictures. The message is below.

Softhackle

Wellsville, NY

Posts: 540

Softhackle on Feb 9, 2008February 9th, 2008, 1:45 am EST

I've been busy tying and thought you might be interested in what I'm working on. Here's a few.

Mark

I'll be posting the recipes on my site, soon. If you are interested in the dressings, contact me.

"I have the highest respect for the skilled wet-fly fisherman, as he has mastered an art of very great difficulty." Edward R. Hewitt

Flymphs, Soft-hackles and Spiders: http://www.troutnut.com/libstudio/FS&S/index.html

Shawnny3
Moderator
Pleasant Gap, PA

Posts: 1197

Shawnny3 on Feb 9, 2008February 9th, 2008, 1:52 am EST

Pretty, as usual. And productive, I'm sure.

-Shawn

Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com

CaseyP

Arlington, VA/ Mercersburg, PA

Posts: 653

CaseyP on Feb 9, 2008February 9th, 2008, 2:26 am EST

neat photos. say, how do you photograph the flies without any visible means of support? without being held up in the air, mine lie all crooked.

"You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra

Shawnny3
Moderator
Pleasant Gap, PA

Posts: 1197

Shawnny3 on Feb 9, 2008February 9th, 2008, 2:39 am EST

I've wondered the same thing, Casey. But you may be asking a magician how he does his trick...

-Shawn

Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com

Dano
Vanderbilt, Michigan

Posts: 101

Dano on Feb 9, 2008February 9th, 2008, 2:54 am EST

Nice flies, Mark; thanks for sharing...

Casey, my guess is that the flies are laid on their sides on a blotter board and shot from above using a macro-telephoto. Even under the "normal" flash settings, with a macro-telephoto, the depth of field becomes extremely shallow. Since Mark does use soft hackles (I assume) getting the flies straight is much easier.

Dano