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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Female Sweltsa borealis (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult Female Sweltsa borealis (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult

Lateral view of a Female Sweltsa borealis (Chloroperlidae) (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Harris Creek in Washington

I was not fishing, but happened to be at an unrelated social event on a hill above this tiny creek (which I never even saw) when this stonefly flew by me. I assume it came from there. Some key characteristics are tricky to follow, but process of elimination ultimately led me to Sweltsa borealis. It is reassuringly similar to this specimen posted by Bob Newell years ago. It is also so strikingly similar to this nymph from the same river system that I'm comfortable identifying that nymph from this adult. I was especially pleased with the closeup photo of four mites parasitizing this one.

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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.

Eleven Mile Canyon

Report at a Glance

General Region	Catch and Release area
Dates Fished	9/16/06
Time of Day	9:00a - 1:30p
Fish Caught	Several nice Rainbows (12" - 15") and a couple small Browns
Conditions & Hatches	There was a big Trico hatch that started at around 10:00a and spinner fall began around 11:00a. The flow was hovering around 100cfs, the clarity was great.

Details and Discussion

Sundula
Littleton, Colorado

Posts: 35

Sundula on Sep 16, 2006September 16th, 2006, 5:03 pm EDT

I used a #22 Mercury RS2 dropped behind a #20 chartruese vinyl midge, I only witnessed a couple of riseing trout sipping on Trico spinners, the reason for this, I beleive is the spinners that were in my area were blown well down stream when the wind piced up around 11:30. The fishing really got tough when the wind picked up in the early afternoon, before that it was fishing excellent. They were taking both flies with a good dead drift, I was only able to sight nymph two fish. The majority of the fish I caught were feeding deep in the tailouts and in the deep seams.

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Sep 16, 2006September 16th, 2006, 6:18 pm EDT

Good fishing! I'm going to give the RS2 a try soon on one of my local small streams. They're not quite so demanding of finesse as a tailwater... so I'll probably be fishing it under a size 16 Royal Wulff.

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist