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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This specimen appears to be of the same species as this one collected in the same spot two months earlier. The identification of both is tentative. This one suffered some physical damage before being photographed, too, so the colors aren't totally natural. I was mostly photographing it to test out some new camera setting idea, which worked really well for a couple of closeups.
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Adirman on Apr 20, 2011April 20th, 2011, 12:03 am EDT
Ah, I see the green-tails are made out of peacock fibers accdg to Falsiflys link!
Oldredbarn on Apr 20, 2011April 20th, 2011, 3:19 am EDT
Guys...I don't want to get us back on the topic of talking with them fishes, but the Zug in the right size would make a passable Iso nymph imitation. Unfortunately...the little trout are staying mum on this topic. And maybe I should too! :)
I can see the cased caddis idea as well. For this to make sense I would think it would need to be weighted somehow and bumped along the very bottom.
The Prince, as well as a dark and light version of the hare's ear nymph, tossed up towards the bank could maybe cover some of the stones that migrate to the edges looking for the exit and "love"...
A weird aside...Have you ever tried to "make" an adult stone crawl down anything? This is one of those things that have always peaked my childish curiosity...They are completely oriented to crawl up something, never down. It can't be done...:) Explain that one Ranger Rick!
These are the same sort of things that drive my fishing partner crazy..."Damn it Spence! Are you going to fish or play with the stoneflies?" It also "bugs" him that I'm prone to find the most difficult feeder during a nice hatch and spend way too much time on him...There can be head-and-shoulder rises all up and down the stream and the obsessive-compulsive Spence is mesmerized...
One time we were hiking downstream and I spotted what appeared to be a fair fish feeding way up under an overhanging shrub...Somehow, not sure if wind or something else, a small twig of the shrub would catch the water just behind this fish and get tugged down in to the river a bit...Then it would lift away and be clear of the river for a few moments...So here's the puzzle...If the fish takes the fly there is no problem. If he lets it pass there is the possibility of a serious snag...My friend Bill just shook his head and started downstream...He knew I had to give it a try..."Incorrigible!!!" I thought I heard him mumble as he moved off downstream...
I just stood there staring at the unsolved equation watching the fish feed and every so often the twig getting tugged in to the river...I became one with the rhythm and the river (he,he!) and cast...The fish was a tad over 14" and I yelled down to my friend and he turned and I held up that little Brown like he was two-feet long...He just waved me off and shrugged his shoulder...He was head-hunting and looking for this fish's grand-dad. I was grinning ear-to-ear like the 10 year old I was for that moment.
Hmmm...Not sure what that had to do with Prince Nymphs and Zug-Bugs...Sorry! For such an obsessive, why can't I stay on topic??!
Spence
I can see the cased caddis idea as well. For this to make sense I would think it would need to be weighted somehow and bumped along the very bottom.
The Prince, as well as a dark and light version of the hare's ear nymph, tossed up towards the bank could maybe cover some of the stones that migrate to the edges looking for the exit and "love"...
A weird aside...Have you ever tried to "make" an adult stone crawl down anything? This is one of those things that have always peaked my childish curiosity...They are completely oriented to crawl up something, never down. It can't be done...:) Explain that one Ranger Rick!
These are the same sort of things that drive my fishing partner crazy..."Damn it Spence! Are you going to fish or play with the stoneflies?" It also "bugs" him that I'm prone to find the most difficult feeder during a nice hatch and spend way too much time on him...There can be head-and-shoulder rises all up and down the stream and the obsessive-compulsive Spence is mesmerized...
One time we were hiking downstream and I spotted what appeared to be a fair fish feeding way up under an overhanging shrub...Somehow, not sure if wind or something else, a small twig of the shrub would catch the water just behind this fish and get tugged down in to the river a bit...Then it would lift away and be clear of the river for a few moments...So here's the puzzle...If the fish takes the fly there is no problem. If he lets it pass there is the possibility of a serious snag...My friend Bill just shook his head and started downstream...He knew I had to give it a try..."Incorrigible!!!" I thought I heard him mumble as he moved off downstream...
I just stood there staring at the unsolved equation watching the fish feed and every so often the twig getting tugged in to the river...I became one with the rhythm and the river (he,he!) and cast...The fish was a tad over 14" and I yelled down to my friend and he turned and I held up that little Brown like he was two-feet long...He just waved me off and shrugged his shoulder...He was head-hunting and looking for this fish's grand-dad. I was grinning ear-to-ear like the 10 year old I was for that moment.
Hmmm...Not sure what that had to do with Prince Nymphs and Zug-Bugs...Sorry! For such an obsessive, why can't I stay on topic??!
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
Entoman on Apr 20, 2011April 20th, 2011, 7:33 am EDT
Adirman - Yeah, those are the "sword" fibers I was talking about, which are quite different from peacock herl. For important starters, much softer in the stem for increased movement. Yes, the tan speckled stuff on top is the trimmed duck flank wingcase, which imitates the pads covering the future wings of the adult fly.
Spence - You keep hitting the bullseye with words why many of us enjoy this game so much! Kudo's buddy....
Kurt
Spence - You keep hitting the bullseye with words why many of us enjoy this game so much! Kudo's buddy....
Kurt
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Adirman on Apr 23, 2011April 23rd, 2011, 6:32 am EDT
Entoman;
Thanks buddy, i really earned alot from you guys via this thread!!
Thanks buddy, i really earned alot from you guys via this thread!!
Entoman on Apr 23, 2011April 23rd, 2011, 11:34 am EDT
You're very welcome.
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
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