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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.

Lateral view of a Female Sweltsa borealis (Chloroperlidae) (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Harris Creek in Washington
I was not fishing, but happened to be at an unrelated social event on a hill above this tiny creek (which I never even saw) when this stonefly flew by me. I assume it came from there. Some key characteristics are tricky to follow, but process of elimination ultimately led me to Sweltsa borealis. It is reassuringly similar to this specimen posted by Bob Newell years ago. It is also so strikingly similar to this nymph from the same river system that I'm comfortable identifying that nymph from this adult. I was especially pleased with the closeup photo of four mites parasitizing this one.
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.

Troutnut
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Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Aug 1, 2008August 1st, 2008, 11:22 pm EDT
From July 24th to 27th I floated down 50 miles of the Chena River upstream from Fairbanks, Alaska, for my grad school research project. I put some neat pictures up on our project website:

http://www.chenakings.org/2008/08/02/four-day-data-collection-float/

The day my float ended, it started raining and now parts of Fairbanks are about to be declared a disaster area. (One of my friends needs a canoe or waders to get to her cabin.) Some of us went out for work to document the flood in our study area, which is pretty impressive:

http://www.chenakings.org/2008/08/02/the-flood-of-08/
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Wiflyfisher
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Wisconsin

Posts: 622
Wiflyfisher on Aug 2, 2008August 2nd, 2008, 3:41 am EDT
Jason, very cool! I love the underwater videos of the feeding young salmon. Thanks for sharing!
Troutnut
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Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Aug 2, 2008August 2nd, 2008, 6:45 am EDT
Just wait til you see the new videos I'll be putting up. Those were taken last year with a crap camera. Now I have color HD video. :)
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

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