Header image
Enter a name
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.

Dorsal view of a Zapada cinctipes (Nemouridae) (Tiny Winter Black) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Nymphs of this species were fairly common in late-winter kick net samples from the upper Yakima River. Although I could not find a key to species of Zapada nymphs, a revision of the Nemouridae family by Baumann (1975) includes the following helpful sentence: "2 cervical gills on each side of midline, 1 arising inside and 1 outside of lateral cervical sclerites, usually single and elongate, sometimes constricted but with 3 or 4 branches arising beyond gill base in Zapada cinctipes." This specimen clearly has the branches and is within the range of that species.
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.

Photos by Troutnut from the Chatanika River in Alaska

The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska

Comments / replies

Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jun 1, 2011June 1st, 2011, 11:41 am EDT
I see that liquid water AND greenery have both returned to your part of the world, Jason, and I bet you're glad to see them. Two things have returned here that I'm not really happy to see: mosquitos and tourists. Funny how they arrive at the same time! Those Culicid pupae must have little calendars - "OK, it's late May and the blood supply is coming soon - time to emerge!"

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Troutnut
Troutnut's profile picture
Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Jun 1, 2011June 1st, 2011, 3:32 pm EDT
Two things have returned here that I'm not really happy to see: mosquitos and tourists.


Got plenty of those here, too! It's amazing how the tourists stick to predictable locations in Alaska, though. On my drive back from this trip I passed probably 30 parked RVs, all of them clustered in about the three most obvious spots on the whole road. I think maybe they're so big & ugly that they're gravitationally attracted to one other, leaving delightful solitude for those of us who care to get off the beaten path.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jun 1, 2011June 1st, 2011, 6:41 pm EDT
It's surprising how much even a 10-minute walk will discourage some people. After finding tourists at my favorite bass pond back in the Marsh, I walked all of said distance to my other favorite bass pond where there was no one. Good thing because I popped a nice fat 15-inch largemouth on a "froggy popper" I had just finished painting & tying, whereas I haven't gotten any bass in the other pond lately...Of course, it may be that folks don't even know the other pond is there - it's not obvious at all on Google Earth, which is how one guy found the first pond.

Jonathon

P.S. It might be magnetism that draws those RVs together, Jason...no doubt increased by the satellite antennas and big-screen TVs they bring along with them.
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
PaulRoberts
PaulRoberts's profile picture
Colorado

Posts: 1776
PaulRoberts on Jun 2, 2011June 2nd, 2011, 7:15 am EDT
It's amazing how the tourists stick to predictable locations in Alaska, though. ...get off the beaten path.

True the world over. Everywhere I've lived/traveled I've found wonderful solitude, with accompanying wild life. From cracks in the concrete in urban 'scapes, hedgerows in eastern farmland,little tribs off known fishing waters, off trail excursions in the mountains, abandoned groves in China, to jungle 'scapes in SE Asia. It's almost always "just off the beaten path". Not only are such places richer, but they're yours, if only for the day.

Quick Reply

Related Discussions

Topic
Replies
Last Reply
5
Aug 12, 2012
by Taxon
6
May 31, 2011
by Jmd123
Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy