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.

I like this one. Glacial river, taiga, tundra, and the perpetual ice cover of a massive high ridge dozens of miles away in the Wrangell Mountains.

From the Copper River in Alaska

Stream photos

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Skwala (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph Skwala (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Skwala (Perlodidae) (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

This Skwala nymph still has a couple months left to go before hatching, but it's still a good representative of its species, which was extremely abundant in my sample for a stonefly of this size. It's obvious why the Yakima is known for its Skwala hatch.

6 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.

Identification

Rhyacophila fuscula (Green Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

11 Pictures

Dorsal view of a Rhyacophila fuscula (Rhyacophilidae) (Green Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Long Lake Branch of the White River in Wisconsin

I collected this larva and several like it from the same stream and on the same day as this pupa. I suspect they're the same species.

Collected June 4, 2005 from the Long Lake Branch of the White River in Wisconsin

Added by Troutnut on May 24, 2006

Collected June 4, 2005 from the Long Lake Branch of the White River in Wisconsin and added by Troutnut on May 24, 2006

Litobrancha
Knoxville TN

Posts: 51

Litobrancha on Sep 5, 2006September 5th, 2006, 8:44 am EDT

Looks like Rhyacophila fuscula. Wonderful bug.

Jwatersphd
boulder colorado

Posts: 2

Jwatersphd on Jun 23, 2007June 23rd, 2007, 2:35 pm EDT

i am curious how to tell rhyacophila from macronema and whether it makes any difference either in terms of size or behavior. in schweibert's first volume from years ago they look very similar. i am awaiting his new two volume set but in the meantime would be curious i if anyone knows. there is definitely a green caddis that is quite prevalent on the gunnison in the black canyon and probably gorge below but i have not been especially successful at devising a good imitation. after looking at oliver edwards's video on czech nymphing, however, i am thinking the big problem is that i did not tie in such a method as to emphasize the heavily segmented body.

jwatersphd

Taxon

Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311

Taxon on Jun 23, 2007June 23rd, 2007, 6:32 pm EDT

Dr. Waters-

Rhyacophila are in the family of free-living caddisflies (Rhyacophilidae), whose larvae are characterized by: only pronotum having a sclerotized plate, mesonotum and metanotum being entirely membranous; sclerotized plate on top of abdominal segment nine; anal prolegs long with large claws.

Macronema (now Macrostemum, at least for those species of interest to flyfishers) are in the family of common net-spinner caddisflies (Hydropsycidae), whose larvae are characterized by: sclerotized plates on notum of all three thoracic segments; anal prolegs terminating in a brush of long setae.

Incidentally, no Macrostemum species are known from Colorado.

Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

Ov10fac
Posts: 2

Ov10fac on Jul 30, 2019July 30th, 2019, 7:15 am EDT

What is the approximate length and width of this fly. I used to fish something similar to this on the South Platte in Colorado. Seems the ones I fished were a little more brown.

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Jul 30, 2019July 30th, 2019, 7:29 am EDT

This one is over an inch long. The genus Rhyacophila is the largest (in number of species) genus of caddisflies, with several dozen different species in North America if I recall correctly. You very likely saw one of the other species of this genus on the South Platte.

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist