Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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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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Troutnut on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 9:23 am EST
As of a week ago, I'm officially getting married to my girlfriend of 5 years, Lena, who has appeared in plenty of the "people" pictures on this website. You can now expect that trend to continue for as long as we both shall fit into waders.
Naturally I had to propose while out on a body of water, but being February in Fairbanks it was frozen solid and we were wearing skis. It still worked!
Naturally I had to propose while out on a body of water, but being February in Fairbanks it was frozen solid and we were wearing skis. It still worked!
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
CaseyP on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 11:21 am EST
*********************CONGRATULATIONS!*****************************
(you've told her about all the bugs, right? and about all of us, right? right?)
(BTW, she's lovely!)
"You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra
Tilman on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 11:23 am EST
Congratulations to you both and good luck, too.
Troutnut on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 11:53 am EST
(you've told her about all the bugs, right? and about all of us, right? right?)
Well, she knows about the bugs. She's even let a few of them crawl around on her. I haven't told her about all of you quite yet, though... better wait til the vows are locked in before I break that news!
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Jmd123 on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 12:45 pm EST
Congrats, Jason!! Glad you found someone who also likes to fish. We like it when the girls catch fish!! They never complain when you say you want to go fishing or buy new stuff, like my ex did (although I DID teach her how to fly fish and she didn't do half-bad). The next one will be more cooperative with me, I'm sure...
Tight lines and leaping fish to both of you, Sir!
Jonathon
Tight lines and leaping fish to both of you, Sir!
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Wiflyfisher on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 12:52 pm EST
CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU!!
I wish you and Lena the best!!!
I wish you and Lena the best!!!
John S.
https://WiFlyFisher.com
https://WiFlyFisher.com
Taxon on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 1:49 pm EST
Congratulations Jason and Lena. It simply warms one's cochleae cordis to hear of your impending marriage. I wish you both the very best.
Oldredbarn on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 1:50 pm EST
Jason & Lena,
All the best from Detroit! You seem to have followed my lead young man. You take the poor thing to the middle of nowhere, miles and miles away from home, and then you propose..."Um...Dear...If you say no you can find your own way home..."
I proposed to my Lisa in a small town in the Black Forest and a couple weeks later on that same trip in 87 I took her twice in to East Germany. "Babe...I'd hate to have to leave you behind the Iron Curtain...It can get pretty rough over here I'm told."
I'm just kidding...It's a good sign that she will tag along with you almost anywhere Jason...Those rare ones you can't let get away or "put back"...This one time Spence won't be so upset if you don't practise catch-and-release!
As an aside: When I was debating with myself in Berlin whether or not it would be a good idea to take Lisa in to East Berlin with me...She was afraid I'd leave her behind...She said that she had asked herself what she would do if I didn't make it back...A keeper, eh!
Good news from Alaska! Can spring and Opening Day be far behind???
Spence
All the best from Detroit! You seem to have followed my lead young man. You take the poor thing to the middle of nowhere, miles and miles away from home, and then you propose..."Um...Dear...If you say no you can find your own way home..."
I proposed to my Lisa in a small town in the Black Forest and a couple weeks later on that same trip in 87 I took her twice in to East Germany. "Babe...I'd hate to have to leave you behind the Iron Curtain...It can get pretty rough over here I'm told."
I'm just kidding...It's a good sign that she will tag along with you almost anywhere Jason...Those rare ones you can't let get away or "put back"...This one time Spence won't be so upset if you don't practise catch-and-release!
As an aside: When I was debating with myself in Berlin whether or not it would be a good idea to take Lisa in to East Berlin with me...She was afraid I'd leave her behind...She said that she had asked herself what she would do if I didn't make it back...A keeper, eh!
Good news from Alaska! Can spring and Opening Day be far behind???
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
Troutnut on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 2:57 pm EST
You take the poor thing to the middle of nowhere, miles and miles away from home, and then you propose..."Um...Dear...If you say no you can find your own way home..."
Exactly! We were in the middle of the lake, about a mile from the car, and I ski much faster than she does so she had no way to escape. :)
Can spring and Opening Day be far behind???
I hope so! I've got so much I need to get done before spring! Then again, spring in Fairbanks is June...
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Aaron7_8 on Feb 20, 2010February 20th, 2010, 5:06 am EST
Congratulations, and good luck to your future together. It is always good to have a partner that shares your interest or at least understands that you need to the things you do.
Martinlf on Feb 20, 2010February 20th, 2010, 7:48 am EST
Warmest wishes, Jason.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Shawnny3 on Feb 21, 2010February 21st, 2010, 1:18 am EST
She's even let a few of them crawl around on her.
What you guys do for excitement behind closed doors is frankly none of our business.
All kidding aside - Congratulations!
-Shawn
Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com
www.davisflydesigns.com
Troutnut on Feb 21, 2010February 21st, 2010, 5:23 am EST
She's even let a few of them crawl around on her.
What you guys do for excitement behind closed doors is frankly none of our business.
Behind close doors? Nah, this was all out in public! Right on the Beaverkill and the West Branch, within plain view of bridges no less!
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Jmd123 on Feb 21, 2010February 21st, 2010, 4:33 pm EST
Sounds like my skinny-dipping adventure with my ex on the Maple River...
:oD
JMD
:oD
JMD
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Troutnut on Feb 21, 2010February 21st, 2010, 5:13 pm EST
Except that we were fully clothed (doubly so, if you count waders) and playing with bugs...
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Jmd123 on Feb 21, 2010February 21st, 2010, 6:49 pm EST
Probably TOO FREAKIN' COLD in AK for skinny dipping, I suppose...
Actually, it was in the upper 90s F in northern MI with no air conditioning (except in a car!), Douglas Lake (where the U of M Bio Station is located) was a warm algae soup, and the Maple River was the only place I could think of to cool off. I wasn't expecting to see her holding her swimsuit in her hand, but I sure wasn't disappointed, either...
;oD
JMD
P.S. She was actually an entomology student with me at Michigan State and completed her Master's degree shortly after I did my own. Though now she is a nurse midwife...truth is stranger than fiction, at least for me. She didn't mind handling bugs, either...
Actually, it was in the upper 90s F in northern MI with no air conditioning (except in a car!), Douglas Lake (where the U of M Bio Station is located) was a warm algae soup, and the Maple River was the only place I could think of to cool off. I wasn't expecting to see her holding her swimsuit in her hand, but I sure wasn't disappointed, either...
;oD
JMD
P.S. She was actually an entomology student with me at Michigan State and completed her Master's degree shortly after I did my own. Though now she is a nurse midwife...truth is stranger than fiction, at least for me. She didn't mind handling bugs, either...
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
RleeP on Feb 22, 2010February 22nd, 2010, 8:18 am EST
My congratulations as well, Jason.
Getting married was the best thing I ever did.
Of course, it was also the 148,903rd best thing I ever did, but that was my first marriage and now long ago beside the point..:)
All the best to you both.
Lee
Getting married was the best thing I ever did.
Of course, it was also the 148,903rd best thing I ever did, but that was my first marriage and now long ago beside the point..:)
All the best to you both.
Lee
Softhackle on Feb 22, 2010February 22nd, 2010, 2:47 pm EST
Good for you, Jason! My best to you and Lena.
Mark
Mark
"I have the highest respect for the skilled wet-fly fisherman, as he has mastered an art of very great difficulty." Edward R. Hewitt
Flymphs, Soft-hackles and Spiders: http://www.troutnut.com/libstudio/FS&S/index.html
Flymphs, Soft-hackles and Spiders: http://www.troutnut.com/libstudio/FS&S/index.html
JAD on Feb 23, 2010February 23rd, 2010, 3:48 am EST
Congratulations to both of you, only the best would do for you.
JAD
JAD
They fasten red (crimson red) wool around a hook, and fix onto the wool two feathers which grow under a cock’s wattles, and which in colour are like wax.
Radcliffe's Fishing from the Earliest Times,
Oldredbarn on Feb 23, 2010February 23rd, 2010, 4:41 am EST
Men and women approach just about everything from a different angle...Us guys sent congrats and made angling reference humor...My wife after zeroing in on the ring Lena is displaying for all the world to see said, "She's cute. Dramatic looking."
We were wondering if she could cast a tight loop?!
Spence
We were wondering if she could cast a tight loop?!
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
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