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.
This specimen resembled several others of around the same size and perhaps the same species, which were pretty common in my February sample from the upper Yakima. Unfortunately, I misplaced the specimen before I could get it under a microscope for a definitive ID.
CaseyP on Dec 18, 2008December 18th, 2008, 6:59 am EST
Louis,
y'know, this spring i tied up a whole box of caddis from large to small, tan to black, and a few larvae and sparkle caddis as well. it was neat having whatever i needed, and after a while i knew which ones to make more of. this winter it's going to be a box of small mayflies with "blue" wings and every sort of body color, and some nymphs and emergers as well. and after a while...
thanks a lot for unravelling that little puzzle for me. those bugs i'd seen on the stream in cooler weather were seldom "blue"--and now i know why, or at least that it's really so.
LittleJ on Dec 18, 2008December 18th, 2008, 8:30 am EST
I'm with you casey, if you fish more than one stream, you'll need any number of 8 thousand patterns/colors/sizes when someone tells you the "olives" are on.