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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Kogotus Stonefly Nymph Kogotus Stonefly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Kogotus (Perlodidae) Stonefly Nymph from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington

This one pretty clearly keys to Kogotus, but it also looks fairly different from specimens I caught in the same creek about a month later in the year. With only one species of the genus known in Washington, I'm not sure about the answer to this ID.

8 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.

How about a little discussion of this one?

Female Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun

8 Pictures

This specimen was collected on the same trip as a similar dun.

Collected May 27, 2005 from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Added by Troutnut on May 24, 2006

Collected May 27, 2005 from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin and added by Troutnut on May 24, 2006

Oldredbarn

Novi, MI

Posts: 2600

Oldredbarn on Apr 6, 2010April 6th, 2010, 6:27 am EDT

Jason, Taxon, Gonzo et al...

This one seems to have slipped through the id gauntlet...Does anyone want to hazzard a guess on the species level? BWO is a bit broad...

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

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Apr 6, 2010April 6th, 2010, 1:08 pm EDT

Going to genus level for the Baetidae can be really tricky, and species level is even harder. The scientific keys don't provide any way to identify the female duns. It may be that someone very familiar with the family can recognize it by sight, but if I were to try I would have to fall back on the standard angler's method of identifying Baetids: pull a name out of a hat. "Let's see here... it's (rummage rummage rummage)... it's Baetis vagans" (That's no longer a valid species, but it is the name that seems to get pulled out of the hat most often.)

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

Martinlf