Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York

Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

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.

Stream photos

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Perlodidae (Springflies and Yellow Stones) Stonefly Nymph Perlodidae (Springflies and Yellow Stones) Stonefly Nymph

Artistic view of a Perlodidae (Springflies and Yellow Stones) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

This one seems to lead to Couplet 35 of the Key to Genera of Perlodidae Nymphs and the genus Isoperla, but I'm skeptical that's correct based on the general look. I need to get it under the microscope to review several choices in the key, and it'll probably end up a different Perlodidae.

11 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.

found these in runoff to our creek

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

Deke
Posts: 4

Deke on Aug 20, 2009August 20th, 2009, 1:22 pm EDT

i was fossil hunting and came across these i live in west tn,i tohught it was a fossil at first then relized its really small pebbles and relized it was some sort of a cacoon ,wondering what can build this i put them in my aquarium for the night as they are crawling ill put them back tommorow.very interesting creatures i have never seen anyhting like this in my creek all my life thought i was on a endagered species hehe.and im pretty sure this is what they are now that i found your site but what is odd is there is no trout in my creek its on the small size and they was only 3 under this rock each about a inch long. they are not to my knowledge at all in the main creek with crawfish's and minnow's i dont have no plankton for them to eat i threw grass in there and spring water it probably has some and a piece of a sardine know that i know they can fly i do not wish to keep them also hehe but they are cute"in a manly way"

Sayfu
Posts: 560

Sayfu on Aug 9, 2012August 9th, 2012, 12:38 pm EDT

My creeks were much bigger than that when I'd skitter my dicosmoecis imitation across current on a long line, and have the big swirl of a Fall Summer-run steelhead explode on it. What a heart stopper. Vivid memories of those days fishing that caddis on a low water, West Coast river...not much matches it in all of freshwater fly fishing.