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.
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It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
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Report at a Glance
| General Region | Yellowstone National Park |
| Specific Location | La,mar River, Gardner, Yellowstone River, Soda Butte, Trout Lake,Armstrong Spring Creek in Paradise Valley |
| Dates Fished | August 13-24 |
| Time of Day | All Day |
| Fish Caught | Cutthroats, Cutbows, Rainbows, Browns, Brookies and Whitefish |
| Conditions & Hatches | First few days were very cold, but by the fourth day the air warmed and the hatches came alive. We fished BWOs, Sulfers, Flavs, PMDs, Rusty Spinners and Hoppers. The water was about average depth I was told and clear. |
Details and Discussion
Lastchance on Sep 2, 2009September 2nd, 2009, 1:09 pm EDT
It was the trip of a lifetime for me. The scenery is incredible and worth the trip itself. There are plenty of fish from 12 to 16 inches with a 20-inchers very possible. I landed one cutt over 20 in Trout Lake and another one 18 in the Lamar. We fished literally in the midst of a Bison herd a few times. We saw two grizzly bears, black bears, elk, mule deer, whitetails, coyotes, mountain goats, pronghorn antelope, and assorted birds. The purple mountains, valleys and foothills were just beautiful. Well, I don't want to bore the people that have already experienced the place.
CaseyP on Sep 3, 2009September 3rd, 2009, 8:35 am EDT
uh-oh! another convert...yeah, it's great, isn't it? welcome to the club. ;-)
"You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra
Martinlf on Sep 3, 2009September 3rd, 2009, 3:28 pm EDT
Good for you, Bruce. I've only been out once, tacking a few days on before and after a conference I attended in Jackson Hole. Like you, I found my trip out west utterly amazing. I was there just after ice out, and everything was high and muddy except the Firehole and Henry's Fork, so I missed the cutts, but had a blast. I fished near bison one day, and in driving snow a couple of times, but the fish cooperated nicely. Thanks for sharing your report--any photos?
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Creno on Sep 3, 2009September 3rd, 2009, 5:23 pm EDT
Pick up a copy of 'Playing God In Yellowstone' to think about what you missed. And on your next trip be sure to try the upper meadows of Slough Creek.
Martinlf on Sep 4, 2009September 4th, 2009, 11:15 am EDT
Will do. The owner of High Country Flyshop in Jackson Hole, who was very helpful to me for my past trip, told me that he loves Slough Creek. I hope to get back sometime.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Flyfishpa on Oct 13, 2009October 13th, 2009, 10:18 am EDT
Bruce: I've fished from West-Central Wyoming up through North-West Montana and you fished some of the best water. It's absolutely amazing and unlike anything one can experience back here in Pa. We have some awesome fishing but the obvious attributes that you describe of Yellowstone are unparalleled anywhere else. I'm already planning for next year, starting on the Greys and Green rivers in Wyoming and heading north to end up camping along Slough Creek for a few nights. Sight fishing the upper meadows of Slough with a big old rubber-legged stonefly is something everyone should experience once. This is my first post on Troutnut and I figured I'd start with you since we must be neighbors with me living in New Germany.
Oldredbarn on Oct 14, 2009October 14th, 2009, 6:20 am EDT
Bruce,
Bore on, man! Don't you know this is the kind of stuff that just may get us through this winter? I'm sitting at my desk, in my office, and now I'm running down memory lane because of your report...You have already helped me through this day! Ich danke Sie!
Back in 2004, just before Labor Day, I took a horseback trip with Blue Ribbon Flies up to the third meadow of Slough Creek. The out-fitters were setting up camp and we all ran down to the river. I was walking alone the banks and spotted a fish feeding in a deep bend in the river. I cast over to him and had a 17" Cutt on my line within minutes of actually seeing the river for the first time.
All the work us midwestern anglers do back home to catch a sulky old brown hiding up under some overhanging tag alders or tucked up under a bank in an impossible spot only prepares us for the chances we get to fish outwest.
Bruce, just thank the river gods for giving you the chance to bore your fellow anglers with fish stories and providing you with that smile you have been wearing lately!
Just an aside...It was interesting to me that the Cutts, when hooked, bare down and dive to the deepest part of a run. You have to work to get their heads up. The fish I mentioned above walked me upstream as if I had a dog on a leash. If you catch it's cousin the Rainbow, on the other hand, he flips completely out and goes airborne...It's weird that these two closely related fish have such different behaviors.
Thanks for the diversion and I agree with the above post...We aren't opposed to photos. If you don't know already, you go to the photography section on this site and download the pics there and it posts so we can view them.
Thanks Again!
Spence
Bore on, man! Don't you know this is the kind of stuff that just may get us through this winter? I'm sitting at my desk, in my office, and now I'm running down memory lane because of your report...You have already helped me through this day! Ich danke Sie!
Back in 2004, just before Labor Day, I took a horseback trip with Blue Ribbon Flies up to the third meadow of Slough Creek. The out-fitters were setting up camp and we all ran down to the river. I was walking alone the banks and spotted a fish feeding in a deep bend in the river. I cast over to him and had a 17" Cutt on my line within minutes of actually seeing the river for the first time.
All the work us midwestern anglers do back home to catch a sulky old brown hiding up under some overhanging tag alders or tucked up under a bank in an impossible spot only prepares us for the chances we get to fish outwest.
Bruce, just thank the river gods for giving you the chance to bore your fellow anglers with fish stories and providing you with that smile you have been wearing lately!
Just an aside...It was interesting to me that the Cutts, when hooked, bare down and dive to the deepest part of a run. You have to work to get their heads up. The fish I mentioned above walked me upstream as if I had a dog on a leash. If you catch it's cousin the Rainbow, on the other hand, he flips completely out and goes airborne...It's weird that these two closely related fish have such different behaviors.
Thanks for the diversion and I agree with the above post...We aren't opposed to photos. If you don't know already, you go to the photography section on this site and download the pics there and it posts so we can view them.
Thanks Again!
Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Lastchance on Oct 14, 2009October 14th, 2009, 11:13 am EDT
Gees, I tried to load the photos twice, but I don't know if I went through the photography section. I'll try again. The trip was wild and wonderful and I could go on all night. Everyday another memory reminds me of the great time. I wish we could all go together.
Bruce
Bruce
CaseyP on Oct 16, 2009October 16th, 2009, 7:12 am EDT
I wish we could all go together.--Lastchance
yeah, that's why i buy lottery tickets...it's really cool to go yourself, but even better with friends virtual and real!
"You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra
JOHNW on Oct 17, 2009October 17th, 2009, 6:55 am EDT
Bruce,
That was the same area where I had my first western fishing experiences. Soda Butte proved to be the ticket that week.
If you want remote head up the lamar river toward the Hoodoo's or better yet head to NW Montana and the Bob Marshal Wilderness.
Thank god Mr. Roosevelt and company had the foresight to set that land aside for "posterity"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JW
That was the same area where I had my first western fishing experiences. Soda Butte proved to be the ticket that week.
If you want remote head up the lamar river toward the Hoodoo's or better yet head to NW Montana and the Bob Marshal Wilderness.
Thank god Mr. Roosevelt and company had the foresight to set that land aside for "posterity"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JW
"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn
Lastchance on Oct 18, 2009October 18th, 2009, 10:47 am EDT
Hey Casey & John: If I win the lottery we all go out West in prime time. I'd love to be out there now with the leaves colored and snow in the mountains.
John: The next time I go out I'd like to explore more wilderness areas. I think it might take 2 full weeks to enjoy that kind of vacation.
John: The next time I go out I'd like to explore more wilderness areas. I think it might take 2 full weeks to enjoy that kind of vacation.
JOHNW on Oct 19, 2009October 19th, 2009, 11:35 am EDT
Bruce,
You can do a very reasonable back country trip in about 10 days including travel the caveat being that you must commit to a single river/system. That is not a "bad thing" and when it comes down to the cost of things booking a back country trip through an outfitter is pretty much a break even compared to Pilgriming it and are much more comfortable.
I highly reccomend the South Fork of the Flat Head for such a trip. It is chock full of very willing westslopes that have the mentality of brookies around here not to mention the chance at some truly awe inspiring bull trout (they will try to eat 16"+ cutties).
JW
You can do a very reasonable back country trip in about 10 days including travel the caveat being that you must commit to a single river/system. That is not a "bad thing" and when it comes down to the cost of things booking a back country trip through an outfitter is pretty much a break even compared to Pilgriming it and are much more comfortable.
I highly reccomend the South Fork of the Flat Head for such a trip. It is chock full of very willing westslopes that have the mentality of brookies around here not to mention the chance at some truly awe inspiring bull trout (they will try to eat 16"+ cutties).
JW
"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn
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