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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.

Dorsal view of a Setvena wahkeena (Perlodidae) (Wahkeena Springfly) Stonefly Nymph from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington
As far as I can tell, this species has only previously been reported from one site in Oregon along the Columbia gorge. However, the key characteristics are fairly unmistakable in all except for one minor detail:
— 4 small yellow spots on frons visible in photos
— Narrow occipital spinule row curves forward (but doesn’t quite meet on stem of ecdysial suture, as it's supposed to in this species)
— Short spinules on anterior margin of front legs
— Short rposterior row of blunt spinules on abdominal tergae, rather than elongated spinules dorsally
I caught several of these mature nymphs in the fishless, tiny headwaters of a creek high in the Wenatchee Mountains.
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.
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This discussion is about the Little Juniata River.

The Little Juniata River in Pennsylvania
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Oct 21, 2014October 21st, 2014, 9:54 am EDT
Tony...Irony...No! :)

Isn't the Little J where Brucie bathes? ;) He swims with the fishes...

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
Lastchance
Portage, PA

Posts: 437
Lastchance on Oct 21, 2014October 21st, 2014, 2:20 pm EDT
Tony...Irony...No! :)

Isn't the Little J where Brucie bathes? ;) He swims with the fishes...

Spence



Hey Spence! Yep, that's where I fish and bathe. HA! I'm glad I was with you during my swim. What a time we had.
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Oct 21, 2014October 21st, 2014, 3:11 pm EDT
Hey Spence! Yep, that's where I fish and bathe. HA! I'm glad I was with you during my swim. What a time we had.


I didn't know if I should have tried to save you or throw you a bar of soap! You must have a little river otter in you, my friend. I have never seen someone go under and shake it off like it was nothing the way you did.

We will have to do it again, for sure...Despite the nervous tick he developed after all the swarming mosquitoes he had to endure here in Michigan, John survived a trip north this past summer. I think the nearly two-foot Brown he caught helped him to forget...At least for a moment...His wife did tell me he had nightmares there for a few weeks after, but it eventually went away.

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
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Oct 21, 2014October 21st, 2014, 7:05 pm EDT
"I have never seen someone go under and shake it off like it was nothing the way you did."

I had a similar incident with my consulting boss many years ago on the Rifle. We were wading downstream after an evening of dry flying, it's getting pretty dark, and suddenly he trips over a log and is completely submerged, face down, in the river in a fraction of a second! Then just as suddenly, he pops right back up and says, "I'm fine! No problem! I got dry clothes in the car!" He never has wanted to go back there with me again, though...

;oD

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Oct 23, 2014October 23rd, 2014, 3:05 pm EDT
"Dry clothes in the car"?! Hell! Brucie just left his Yogi Bear boxers hanging on a tree limb. He went back two week later to see if they had dried out enough to put them back on.

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
Lastchance
Portage, PA

Posts: 437
Lastchance on Oct 23, 2014October 23rd, 2014, 3:26 pm EDT
Wow! Dry clothes are overrated. How about it, Spence.

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