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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.

Dorsal view of a Ephemerella mucronata (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
This is an interesting one. Following the keys in Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019) and Jacobus et al. (2014), it keys clearly to Ephemerella. Jacobus et al provide a key to species, but some of the characteristics are tricky to interpret without illustrations. If I didn't make any mistakes, this one keys to Ephemerella mucronata, which has not previously been reported any closer to here than Montana and Alberta. The main character seems to fit well: "Abdominal terga with prominent, paired, subparallel, spiculate ridges." Several illustrations or descriptions of this holarctic species from the US and Europe seem to match, including the body length, tarsal claws and denticles, labial palp, and gill shapes. These sources include including Richard Allen's original description of this species in North America under the now-defunct name E. moffatae in Allen RK (1977) and the figures in this description of the species in Italy.
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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Swerve
bliss new york

Posts: 3
Swerve on May 11, 2008May 11th, 2008, 2:21 am EDT
Im new to fly fishing only been doing it for two years. Can anyone suggest any good books web sites dvds ect. on whats hatching and when any help would be greatly appreciated.
just learning
Taxon
Taxon's profile picture
Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on May 11, 2008May 11th, 2008, 3:12 am EDT
Jim-

I recently came across a book which does exactly that, The Fly Hatches by David Richey. It was published in 1980, and is no longer in print. However, it is available on the internet used book market for at a real bargain.

The book lists the hatches by state, specifying scientific name (common name), start date for hatch, duration of hatch, hours of peak activity, and best imitating fly pattern and size. For New York, it lists (21) separate insect hatches, (15) mayflies, (3) caddisflies, and (3) stoneflies.

I was in the process of developing an updated taxonomy for the book, but unfortunately, got temporarily distracted by some other higher priority projects.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
LittleJ
Hollidaysburg Pa

Posts: 251
LittleJ on May 11, 2008May 11th, 2008, 3:29 am EDT
Hatches II Is another good resource, I got mine from amazon.
jeff
GONZO
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
GONZO on May 11, 2008May 11th, 2008, 7:23 am EDT
Jim,

The Hatch Guide for New England Streams by Thomas Ames (Frank Amato Publications, 2000) is a good little reference for Eastern hatches. It covers most of the important mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies, as well as a few incidentals (dragonflies, damselflies, true flies, and terrestrials)--lots of nice photos and useful information.

PS--The website at www.flyfishingconnection.com gives a number of stream-specific hatch charts for popular NYS waters. Unfortunately, they resort to the usual practice of using many vague common names (tan caddis, brown stonefly, BWO), which somewhat limits the usefulness of these charts.
Swerve
bliss new york

Posts: 3
Swerve on May 12, 2008May 12th, 2008, 12:55 am EDT
thanks for the great info everyone. Roger i was able to find a copy of "the fly hatchs" and should be coming in the mail thanks for the help.
just learning

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