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.

This little pool in update New York is enjoyed by many tourists every day, and it still holds a few trout -- stockers mostly, but you can't complain about the setting!

From Mystery Creek # 62 in New York

Stream photos

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Onocosmoecus (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Onocosmoecus (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

Lateral view of a Onocosmoecus (Limnephilidae) (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

This specimen keys pretty easily to Onocosmoecus, and it closely resembles a specimen from Alaska which caddis expert Dave Ruiter recognized as this genus. As with that specimen, the only species in the genus documented in this area is Onocosmoecus unicolor, but Dave suggested for that specimen that there might be multiple not-yet-distinguished species under the unicolor umbrella and it would be best to stick with the genus-level ID. I'm doing the same for this one.

9 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.

Newbie

This topic is about the Insect Order Trichoptera

Some say caddisflies are even more important than mayflies, and they are probably right. The angling world has taken a while to come to terms with this blasphemy. Caddis imitations are close to receiving their fare share of time on the end of the tippet, but too many anglers still assume all caddisflies are pretty much the same.

Caddis species actually provide as much incentive to learn their specifics as the mayflies do. There is just as much variety in their emergence and egg-laying behaviors, and as many patterns and techniques are needed to match them. Anglers are hampered only by the relative lack of information about caddisfly behavior and identification.

Example specimens

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Female Dicosmoecus gilvipes (October Caddis) Caddisfly Adult

Female Dicosmoecus gilvipes (Limnephilidae) (October Caddis) Caddisfly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington

I've been hoping to add a really good October Caddis to the photo collection here for years, but so far I had struck out on finding them on the river. Tonight, this one flew into the kitchen during a pizza party at a house along the river, and was quickly pointed out -- one of the perks of hanging out with other aquatic biologists! Maybe next year I can finally get a salmonfly on taco night or something.

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Hydropsyche (Spotted Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

Ventral view of a Hydropsyche (Hydropsychidae) (Spotted Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

With a bit of help from the microscope, this specimen keys clearly and unsurprisingly to Hydropsyche.

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Limnephilus (Summer Flier Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

Case view of a Limnephilus (Limnephilidae) (Summer Flier Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

GennieS
Posts: 1

GennieS on May 25, 2009May 25th, 2009, 9:10 am EDT

I am a Canuck. I grew up trout fishing in the Canadian Rockies and Purcells, and learned to tie flies way back in the 1950's. I became quite expert at it by the standards in those days but the flies we tied were all of the traditional "Royal Coachman, Silver Doctor" type. Some older fishers were tying flies on the water according to the hatches they encountered but us kids never got that sophisticated. In our teens we switched to spin fishing and it has been over 50 years (I am 69 years old in a few weeks) since I tied flies. However I am a biologist and always look under rocks and so on, and discovered caddis fly larvae when I was barely past the toddler stage.

I now live on Lake Athabasca which is way back in the sticks so to speak, and in Arctic Grayling country. (Lake Athabasca produced the world record Lake Trout at 102 lbs)I have purchased another fly tying outfit and am trying to 'catch up' to the art that has really passed me by. This summer/fall I hope to catch my first Arctic Grayling, and thus my interest in this site. I would be interested in anything anyone has about the Caddis/Mayfly/Stoneflies of the north and any information on tying such flies as well. Internet links would also be appreciated. Nice to meecha all by the way, and my compliments on the site. Gennie

Taxon

Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311

Taxon on May 25, 2009May 25th, 2009, 10:17 am EDT

Hi GennieS-

Welcome aboard. While looking up your lake, I discovered Dale Parker's AquaTax Consulting site, which seems to be a terrific resource for SK aquatic invertebrates.

Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

Shawnny3
Moderator
Pleasant Gap, PA

Posts: 1197

Shawnny3 on May 26, 2009May 26th, 2009, 11:29 am EDT

Welcome, GennieS. It's never too late to get into flyfishing, though it can certainly make you wish you'd done it sooner. I wish you the best in your "new" hobby, and hope it doesn't become too much of an obsession for you. If it does, this is a good place to meet people similarly obsessed. Call it therapy.

Hi, my name is Shawn, and I'm a flyfisherman...

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